Power Rangers ReMix
by Ai89
Summary: Power Rangers are supposed to be just a show. However, for Ara and her friends, the show is real. There's a good girl red ranger, the green ranger can't seem to play nice, and they're getting very little help from their version of Zordon! What to Do!
1. Meeting of the Minds

Disclaimer: My name is Kai, and no, I do not own Power Rangers or anything affiliated with it. The only thing I actually own is this story and the main characters. The plots and twists are mine, however, not the Power Ranger basis of all this.

I really don't care if u R/R or not, or even if u comment, just don't be mad if it gets lamer or something when u don't. If you do feel like commenting though, that would be nice to help me improve, and no, this is not a 1 chapter thing. There are more that I'm working on, promise! () Happy reading! Kai

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"Well Ara? Can you see it?"

"Hold on Kari, I'm work'n on it; it does still take _some_ concentration you know,"

"Yeah, ok, I'm sorry. I'm just impatient,"

"Yeah, I know... Ok, almost got it. Yeah! Alright, you have a pink colored aura. Pink, pink... I think that's like, healing or something,"

"So I have a healing aura? Cool!"

"Yup! Hmmmmm," Slowly Ara turned her head.

"What's up?" Kari looked strangely at Ara.

"Something, I'm not sure what though... Danger, outside, shit!" Ara suddenly got up and looked around.

"What is it?" asked Kari. Suddenly three huge blasts of light came down and Ara went to investigate.

"Awsome!" Ara exclaimed as she saw the smoke begin to clear.

"Woah, what is that?" Kari asked.

"Not sure..." Ara commented.

"Ahahahaha! I'm finally free to take over this world!" a voice said. A strange creature suddenly emerged from the smoke.

"Take over the world? I think not," Ara laughed.

"Puney human, give me your precious Earth, or you will be destroyed!" the creature commanded.

"Uhm, can't. Love to, but can't," Kari said.

"Oh? And why is that?"

"Cause we don't own the Earth? It's too big, who'd want to own the Earth? You've got the empty Pacific Ocean, and then the Sahara Desert, and then the Atlantic Ocean, oh and there's the empty and cold Antartica..." Ara said.

"Hey yeah. What would you do with Antartica?" Kari asked.

"I'm not sure... use it as a huge freezer?" Ara joked.

"Shut up, I'll just kill both of you for fun then. I do need a little practice anyway,"

"Practice? Please," Ara said to herself. Suddenly about 10 grey-brown creatures with strangely dulled claws came out of nowhere.

"Ok uhm, Ara. You can take these guys, right?" Kari asked nervously.

"Uhm, yeah.. I'm gonna need some help though.. Hey, monster, could you excuse me for like just a minuet please,"

"Oh of course. We'll wait," he said sarcastically.

"Ok, thanks!" Ara then went inside for a minute. "Yo, Stacie! Come with me!"

"What? Why? Can I leave my stuff?"

"I suggest you leave you stuff. I just need you help for a sec,"

"Ok, what's up?"

"Those things, You're a black belt, help me get rid of them,"

"What things?" Stacie asked.

"Those things! Those things right in front of the monster freak," Kari explained.

"Uhm, Kari, nothing's there,"

"What? Right in front of the trash can,"

"There's nothing there, just the garbage, and the sidewalk."

"No way, Ara, you see it don't you?"

"Yeah.. There's like, twelve of them,"

"Wait a sec.. You can't see them?" Kari asked one last time.

"No,"

"Hmmm, hey! Don't worry, it won't be too long now, promise!" Ara then went back inside

"Ok, Tamera, could you come here please?!"

"Ok, why?... Woah. What are those things?" Tamara asked.

"What things?! There's nothing there! Nick, come here. Tell me, do you see anything?" Stacie demanded.

"Where? All I see is the garbage and a car coming..." Raul commented.

"See??? There's nothing there!"

"Ok, thank you Stacie, and thank you Nick, you may go back now. Tamara, think you can help me do something?" Ara said.

"Yeah, sure, what?"

"Get rid of them? Obviously Stacie's no help, so you're sorta the next best thing." Ara explained.

"Are you serious? Us, against them???" Kari asked.

"Totally... I--" Ara was then interrupted, because she, Kari and Tamara were all transported by a beam of light. "think we can... What the hell?"

"Where are we?" Tamara asked.

"I don't know, but it looks sorta cool," Kari said.

"Yeah, it does!" Ara exclaimed.

"Wah! What the heck?!" a boy mumbled. Two boys were heavily dropped on the floor by another beam of light.

"Where the hell are we? And who the hell are you?" one of the boys asked.

"Yeah, what'd you do to us?!" the other asked.

"Uhm, Ara, you wanna take this one too?" Kari asked.

"Sure... Uhm, you two. First of all, if you want a wife in your old age, I suggest you don't treat girls like that..." Ara started; Kari giggled.

"Good one Ara," Tamara stated.

"Thanks, and second we're just as clueless as you are, so chill," Ara explained.

"Ah, I see you have all met already," a voice suddenly called out.

"Pardon?" Kari looked around a bit.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Sidira,"

"Nice to meet you, I'm Kari, can you send us all back home now?"

"If you wish, but there is a reason why I called you all here. You see my nephew, has been up to... trouble. I have called you five to give you a gift. A gift like none other,"

"A gift?" Ara asked.

"Yes,"

"What is this gift?" one of the boys asked.

"Power,"

"Pause! You wanna give us power? What sort of power can you give us? I mean, if you two are like us three, then there's not a lot of power she can really give us.. is there?" Ara asked.

"What are you talking about? Like you?" one of the boys asked. Hesitantly, Ara looked at Kari, then at Tamara, then took a big breath and exhaled.

"Well, I'm a psychic, and I know these two are in a class of their own," Ara stated nervously.

"Wait, psychic? Like, a wierd cult thing?" the other boy asked.

"Yeah... sorta.." Ara started. The boy took a big breath, and stepped forward a little.

"I'm Sean, and I'm a shaman, and Jared here's a satanist,"

"Nice to meet you. I'm Kari, I'm a wiccan and Tamara here's a witch, and Ara there is a psychic slash wiccan in training," Kari introduced.

"I haven't taken the oath to make it official yet for the wiccan thing, just the psychic... Anyway. Let's get back to the story, it's interesting... So, you say you can give us power... Why? What for? What do you need in return?"

"Thank you Ara. I need you five to become Power Rangers. You must defeat my nephew and his evil creatures, with these," Suddenly, five "fancy-wristwatch" like things floated over on a tray and each one floated up to a person. Slowly, the five teens took the one that floated up to them.

"Ooo, pink!" Kari exclaimed.

"These will be your morphers. Sean, you will be the green ranger, Jared, the black, Kari the pink, Tamara the yellow and finally, Ara, you will be the red ranger." Sidira explained.

"Hey, I watched Power Rangers when I was a kid, I don't remember there ever being a _girl _red ranger!" Sean complained.

"That's cause there was never a _girl _red ranger that fought for the good-guys. The closest there was, was in Power Rangers Wildforce and Power Rangers TimeForce. They had girl leaders before they had a red ranger, but they were different colors; The Timeforce one was the Pink Ranger, the WildForce one was yellow," Ara explained.

"How do you know this?" Sidira asked slowly.

"Oh, uhm, I'm like an expert when it comes to Power Rangers," Ara said, slightly embarresed, "If you need to know something about the old Power Rangers, just ask, and most likely I'll give you an answer,"

"Oh yeah? I bet I'm better when it comes to Power Rangers,"Sean challenged.

"Not like her! She's the queen of Power Rangers!" Kari announced.

"Oh yeah? Name all the red rangers there are, excluding the alien rangers,"

"Well, first there's the original mighty morhpin: Jason Scott. Then there's Tommy Oliver for the Zeo's and the there's the aquitarin, but you said to exclude him. Then there's Tommy again for the Turbos, but he had to go to college, so TJ later took his place. Then the turbos, except for Justin, he chose to stay on Earth, went into space and met Andros, who took the position of Leader for the Space Rangers. Then it goes to Marinoi where Leo is the Red guy, and then they go back to Earth, where Carter Greyson is the red Ranger for the Lightspeed Rescue team, then it's the TimeForce Rangers and Wes Collins leads them, and the other Red Ranger, Erik, who's really the Quantim ranger, but he's counted as a red guy, then you go to Cole of the WildForce team. Then there's Shane who's the NinjaStorm red dude, but there's also Hunter who's the Crimson ranger, not sure if he counts though, and then there's Conner McKnight of the DinoThunder Rangers, Jack Landers for SPD, and Finally Nick for the Mystic Force," Ara took a big breath as everyone just stared.

"Ha! Toldya! She rocks when it comes to Power Rangers," Kari said again.

"Ok, so maybe I was wrong... I still don't see why she gets to be red." Sean admitted.

"There is a reason for everything Sean, including why she is the red ranger. I have chosen Ara for this position, because she has shown qualities best fitting for leader. She knows no limits when it comes to doing the right thing, she would not hesitate for a minuet if it meant saving lives," Sidira explained.

"I don't know about that... I mean, it'd depend on the circumstances," Ara commented.

"So you mean to say, she has better stuff to be a leader than I do?" Sean asked ignoring Ara's brief comment.

"Doesn't your current, jealous attitude, prove it?" Tamara asked.

"Shut up, no asked you!" Sean commented.

"Hey, if she's supposed to be our leader, than that's what she'll do, wether you like it or not!" Tamara stated.

"Cool it guys! This is the last thing we need. Man, if this is the way things are gonna be from now on, dark forces won't even need to intervene, we'll end up destroying ourselves," Ara said.

"Ara is correct. You must all come together as a team to defeat them," Sidira commented.

"Speaking of which, who is 'them'?" Kari asked.

"Them, is my nephew. He, his nators and many spirit-creatures he condjures up, may all destroy Earth if something is not done soon."

"Nators?" Ara asked.

"I suppose you would know them best as 'muddy-puddies'. They are more or less clay dirt molded into a human shape. They have no brain, no heart, no soul. Their only existance is to do as they are told,"

"Oh, the stupid things," Sean commented.

"Yes, I suppose you could call them that. Now please, the city is in trouble," Sidira said.

"Right, anything we need to know before we go?" Tamara asked.

"Like how to morph? Sean added.

"All you need to say is your power. Sean, you shall have the power of Transformation. You may transform into any animal you wish. Jared, you have the power of Darkness. Kari, you and Tamara have the power of healing, and Ara, you have the power of the Elemental." Sidira explained.

"Alright, let's go!" Ara commanded.

"Transformer," Sean said.

"Darkness," Jared said.

"Healer," Kari and Tamara said in unison.

"Elemental," Ara said. Everyone was instantly transformed into spandex suits with small pistols on the side, each with a signiture color and symbol, and teleported to the area where the danger is.

"Hey, there he is! You know he seems uglier the second time around," Kari exclaimed.

"Heh, you know what, you're right!" Tamara agreed.

"Alright guys, it's our first time on the job, so let's do it right!" Ara said. Everyone lept into battle. Ara drew her pistol and started shooting anything that wasn't human. "Twenty-four shots, twenty hits, not bad for my first time," Ara mumbled to herself. Jared and Sean went after the monster, while Kari and Tamara continued taking down the nators. Ara went bouncing about, taking down nators, and getting any shot she could at the monster. Just as things looked good, the monster pulled out a trick and Ara turned just in time to see her two new friends get blown away by a huge explosion. Ara ran as fast as she could to the two boys, followed by the other two members of the team. "Kari, can you and Tamara help Sean and Jared? I'll go after the monster,"

"Alright, be careful," Kari offered.

"Don't worry, I will," Ara stood up and walked towards the monster.

"Ah, so you wish to play too now, eh, Power Punk?" the monster taunted.

"Hmmm, Power Punk. I think I like that," Ara answered slyly.

"Oh? Then you'll love this!" the monster fired a huge blast towards Ara, but she dodged it and fired her pistol. The monster flew back and landed on his back. Ara went closer and fired her pistol right in his neck. As Ara landed on the ground, the monster reached the pavement and an explosion no less than 5 ft. tall was seen behind her. The others cheered, and Ara turned to see her friends standing in a row seeming just fine.

"We did it you guys! Oh my god, I can't believe we really did it!!!" Kari yelled in her high pitched voice. Everyone circled around Ara who was still in shock of her victory over the monster. "I know, let's go celebrate! Party at McDonalds!" Kari shouted.

"Ara, you ok?" Tamara gently shook Ara's shoulder. "Uh oh guys, I think all this made her mute," she joked. Ara laughed and shook her head lightly.

"Nah, I'm fine!" Ara announced as everyone laughed. "Come on, let's get back to Sidira to find out what to do now," she suggested. Everyone followed Ara's command and left the scene to see Sidira who was waiting for them with a smile.

"Well done rangers!" she greeted.

"Man, I never thought being a ranger would be this cool!" Sean stated.

"I know. That was so awsome!" Ara agreed. Ara stopped cheering though, and stared at the battlefield on a plasma screen.

"Ara, what's up?" Kari asked.

"Sean, did the monster grow three stories the first time the rangers would morph?" Ara asked worridly.

"I don't think so why?" Sean asked.

"'Cause apparently, this monster doesn't want to follow the rules," she answered.

"Uh oh..." Tamara said outloud.

"You can say that again," Kari commented.

"Uh oh," Tamara repeated.

"Ok guys, no biggie. We'll just have to go back and beat him again," Ara said lightly. Without waiting for another word, Ara teleported to the field and raised one of her arms. "Let's see... I need MegaZord Power, now!" Ara called out. Nothing happened, except that everyone teleported to the field and stared at her. "Uhm... I call upon the spirits of Earth!" Again, nothing happened, so Sean called in to Sidira.

"Hey, Sidira, can we get some help here?" Sean asked.

"Ask for the assistance of your spirits," Sidira advised.

"Assistance of our spirits eh? Alright, thanks. Elements of Earth, please come forth to battle!" Ara stated. Still nothing happened except more buildings being destroyed. "What the?! Ok, someone else try, I need a break!" she exclaimed.

"We need the power of Spirits, please come!" Sean stated outloud. Suddenly, 5 zords came out of nowhere. There was a black lion, a green monkey, a pink unicorn, a yellow pheonix, and a red winged dragon.

"Woah, nice one!" Ara said in awe.

"We'll talk later. Let's just get in them and kick that thing's butt!" Tamara said.

"Right!" Ara agreed. All five of them jumped as high as they could, and landed seated in their zord.

"Lion ready to go!" Jared stated.

"Monkey ready to go!" Sean stated.

"Unicorn ready to go!" Kari stated.

"Pheonix ready to go!" Tamara stated.

"Dragon ready to go! Let's do it guys!" Ara stated. The five rangers pressed a button and they connected together to create one large zord. "Awsome! Now let's kick butt!" Ara said outloud without realizing it. Everyone agreed and went to action. The creature shot out a dangerous beam, but the zord moved in time to dodge. The two exchanged blows for a minuet before the rangers came up with a true attack. "Lion Wind attack!" they all shouted at once, and the lion arm of the zord started swirling and blew the monster back. "Dragon tail!" Ara said as she activated the attack. She made the zord's other arm swirl and jabbed the point into the monster's chest. She then turned the zord so it faced the opposite way as the creature fell and exploded.

"Bouya! We rock!" Kari exclaimed.

"No doubt!" Ara agreed.

"Go us! Woot!" Tamara shouted.

"We rock!" Sean stated. Happily, everyone returned to Sidira.

"Well done Rangers," she greeted.

"Thanks. What do we do now though?" Kari asked.

"Now you wait. Wait for the next attack when you will use your powers to once again defeat evil," Sidira advised.

"Uhm, how about instead of just waiting, we try to do a little training. I mean.. I don't know, or care if the rest of you train, but I know I need some sort of way to practice my powers," Ara stated.

"Yeah... me too. I know it's just healing, but I really need to exercise if I'm to help out," Kari agreed.

"Yeah, me too," Tamara said.

"Ok, where though? What school do you guys go to?" Sean asked.

"We go to Maine North High in Lexington, you?" Ara asked.

"We do too!" Sean exclaimed.

"Really?! Sidira, did you plan this or something?" Tamara asked.

"I did. I wished for you all to have some sort of relation, school is normally a good idea," Sidira stated.

"Cool, so you all just wanna meet at the pit, afterschool?" Ara asked.

"Sure, what day? I'm busy almost every day, except Monday" Sean said.

"Really.. We could do Monday if no one else objects," Kari suggested.

"Ok then... All in favor of Monday afterschool until 4:30? Say I!" Ara announced. Everyone agreed in their own way. "Cool then, I guess that takes care of everything..." Ara stated blankly.

"Uhm, Sidira. This place is cool and all, but how do we get home?" Kari suddenly asked.

"Home is simple. You shall use teleportation to get from one place to another, simply press the first button on the left on your morphers. Be ready though Rangers, evil cares not of the hours of school, but solely of obtaining its goal," Sidira stated.

"Right.. Thanks for the heads up," Ara stated as she pressed her teleportation button. She landed back at school in the girls B wing bathroom. Carefully, she opened the door and found everyone waiting in the hall. No one was around, but helicopters could be heard outside. "Uhm...?" Ara asked, pertaining to the noise outside.

"Camera crews catching the exclusive," Sean stated.

"Oh yeah that's right.. battle's at school.. so I'm guessing that means no school for a while?" Ara asked.

"I'd say a week at most," Tamara said.

"Darn," Ara said with a smile. She and the others soon left the school through an unnoticable door in the back, and went home.


	2. Training

Disclaimer: Again, I do not own Power Rangers or anything affiliated to it.

Kai's note: Again, I don't care if u R/R but if you do that'd be nice. Trust me when I say, if you don't like this chapter, it does get better. If you do like this chapter, great, it still gets better. Happy reading!

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The call came early in the morning, saying that school would be cancled for the rest of the week. Ara wouldn't stay home and be lazy, as she normally would with a 3 day vacation though. She got up around 6, but went back to sleep, and got up again at 9. She refused to have breakfast, but did do her normal morning activities. By 11 she started making phone calls, trying to meet with the others while they were still egear to stick with their plan. First she called Kari, then Tamara, then Sean, then Jared. Everyone was asleep, so she went to the next best thing. She told her mom she'd be out for a while, and went to a nearby park to teleport to Sidira. As she arrived, she saw nothing unusual.

"Hello Ara, is everything alright?" Sidira asked pleasantly.

"I guess. Everyone's asleep, so there's no training yet. You got anything you need done?" Ara asked cheerfully.

"I'm sorry, I don't think I do,"

"Eh, it's alright. Hey, think I can learn about the computer system?" she suddenly asked.

"I suppose, what for?" Ara started tinkering around the system, pressing buttons and looking at what the effects were.

"Well, there's always some person who's like, the smart person. The one who can fix stuff when the ranger's gear is broken, or the zords or computers are down. If someone were to sabatoge you, someone else would need to fix you, or else all the computers are totaled," Ara explained logically. She played around a bit, while Sidira explained what each thing did. After a while, Ara's cellphone went off and was glad to hear who was on the other end.

"Hey, Ara, where are you? I tried calling your house, but your mom said you were out,"

"Hey Kari, I'm at the... uhm.. I'm with Sidira. You know, we gotta think of a good name for this place.. Anyway, I tried calling your house, along with Tamara's, Jared's, and Sean's. You were all asleep. What if there was an attack when you guys were asleep? I'd be all alone and get my butt kicked,"

"Ok, ok, sorry. Anyway, we're all here now, at the park. Thought we could work out there for a while. You coming any time soon?"

"Yeah, I'll be there soon, bye. Thanks Sidira, I'm gonna go meet the others now,"

"Very well Ara, may the power protect you,"

"Thanks, you too; bye!" Ara teleported to the park and waved towards the others. They waved back as she ran towards them.

"So, just for future info, when do you guys wake up on a non-school day?"

"Around noon for me.." Sean stated.

"1, maybe 2 in the afternoon," Tamara stated.

"Uhm.. I don't know.." Kari commented.

"Ok.. thanks.. I'll remember that. You know, we really gotta put 'naming the place where Sidira is' on the list of things to do.." Ara stated.

"Yeah.. Let's just call it the command center, you know like on the show!" Sean suggested.

"Alright sure, everyone agree?" Ara asked. Everyone nodded. "Ok, that's crossed off the list. Now, training!"

"Ok, what should we do?" Tamara asked. Ara thought for a moment.

"Let's do an obstacle course. First with powers, than without," Ara stated.

"Got it,"

"Alright, first we go from here, to that tree there, then we turn and make it to the monkey bars where we make it acroos on them. Then we move onto the slide and slide down standing, then move the merry-go-round 5 times and finish here," Ara commanded.

"Fine, but you go first, show us how it's done," Sean stated.

"Alright... not sure how much good I'll do though. This is meant to challange me too ya know," Ara commented.

"Whatever," Sean added. Ara ran to the first tree and made a U-turn to the monkey bars where she got on top and quickly walked across. Then she jumped down onto the slide and surfed down and pulled the merry-go-round five full circle before letting go to finish near the others.

"Yay Ara!" Kari cheered.

"You want us to do _all_ that?" Sean asked.

"Hey, you said it was fine. Now, you guys go, one at a time, then we can move on from there. Got it?" Ara comanded. She didn't really look for an answer, but she wasn't going to be a dense leader like all the ones she saw on TV. Everyone did as Ara had done and went around the tree, on the monkey bars, down the slide and around the merry-go-round. She made sure the person was at the merry-go-round before she let the next person go, and halted it in between each person. Everyone soon finished and Ara had everyone take a rest before she moved on.

"Ok, now we work with learning our powers. Sean, I want to see you turn into one useful animal. It can be a mouse, dog, monkey, whatever; just not like a fish or something, that could be a small problem. Uhm, Jared, I wanna see you do something with your 'dark powers', wether it's levitation, breaking something, or shooting like a beam or something. You two, I'm gonna burn my myself, I wanna see you guys heal me ok?"

"Wait, why are you gonna burn yourself?" Tamara asked.

"Well, an elemental's power isn't much help to give you two practice, but I figure if I make a small fire, and burn my hand or something, you two can get practice and try to heal me. If it doesn't work, I'll heal on my own. Everyone else ok with their assignments?" Ara asked. Everyone nodded their heads silently. "Alright, Jared, I want you and Sean to go over there, and spread out. You two, help me get some dead stuff so we can make a fire in the sand," Ara instructed. Ara worked on her own power, of controling the air, and used the wind to make a hole in the sandbox while Tamara and Kari brought dead leaves and branches. Then Ara did her best and managed to make sparks appear. After more patient trys, she managed to make a true fire on the leaves and hesitantly she burnt three fingers. It stung a lot and burned easily, and almost immediately she made water appear to soak her fingers. Then she gave them to Tamara and Kari to work together and heal them. It took a lot of time, and Ara managed to put the fire out while the two worked. Finally, when they managed to heal her fingers, Ara led the way to Jared and Sean to see how they were doing. Jared was doing really well, he was able to levitate objects and blast them with his new found powers. Sean on the other hand wasn't doing as well. He managed to morph half of his body into any shape he wanted, his top half was another story. If he transformed his bottom half into a dog, his top half would be a spider. If his bottom half was a horse his top would be a human. If his bottom was a monkey, his top would be a lizard. The good thing though was that he was always able to transform into a full human again.

"Alright guys, good practice for today. How about we call it quits and come back tomorrow? Can't wear you guys out too much," Ara offered. Everyone agreed, but their new morphers soon went off. "What's up Sidira?"

"Rangers, a monster is attacking downtown. Morph and I shall teleport you immediately," Sidira informed.

"Right, let's do it!"

"Transformer!"

"Darkness!"

"Healer!"

"Elemental!" Instantly, everyone was morphed and were transported to Downtown Des Plaines. "Alright, day 2 on the job. Just like practice everyone!" Ara commanded. Kari, and Tamara attacked the nators, while Ara, Jared and Sean attacked the monster. The monster fought hard and kept sending waves of Nators and a few times Ara had to recall everyone back so they could get organized again. Finally, Ara and Jared were able to take care of the nators while Kari, Tamara and Sean distracted the monster. "Alright, Sean, can you become and a centaur and lead the charge. I want you, Kari, to go after Sean, then I'll go, with Tamara then Jared bringing up the rear. Jared, I need your attack to be quick, and final. Got it?" Everyone agreed and waited for Ara's signal. "Good, now let's move. Sean, you and Kari first! Tamara, follow me, and Jared, follow Tamara!" Everyone charged and they finally took the monster down.

"Alright, we did it!" Kari exclaimed.

"Not yet. Ara, think we should call the zords yet?" Tamara asked.

"Not yet. We gotta wait for the thing to grow, or else we could be calling them for nothing,"

"Calling them for nothing?! Yeah right, they always grow, it's the rules!" Sean stated.

"Yeah, but since when are these monsters playing by the rules?" Ara demanded. Just then, the monster grew and everyone looked at Ara. "Ok, so I was wrong. I can be wrong, I'm human too,"

"We need the power of Spirits. Please, come!" Sean yelled out. Everyone watched as their 5 zords came into view.

"Monkey ready to go!"

"Lion ready to go!"

"Unicorn ready to go!"

"Pheonix ready to go!"

"Dragon ready to go! Round 2 of day 2, let's do it!" Everyone combined and attacked the monster. The two were evenly matched, everything from their punches, to their kickes, to their blocks. It was like everything the rangers did, the monster was able to predict.

"This isn't workin.. Sidira, help?" Tamara called in her communicator.

"Rangers, try the Samari's Sword," Sidira answered.

"Samari's Sword?! Dude, this is too cool!!" Ara exclaimed.

"Will you just call for it already?" Sean stated.

"Yeah yeah, I'm on it.. Samari's Sword, activate!" Ara commanded. A sword was soon in the zord's hands.

"Samari Slice!" everyone said together. The zord sliced the monster in half, making him dissolve into nothing.

"Yes!"

"Way to go!"

"Ara, it's just like Kenshin!"

"Hey it is! Awsome!" Everyone jumped down safetly from the zord and watched as they broke and went to Sidira. "Ok, time to go home I think," Ara commanded.

"Agreed!" everyone responded. Everyone went to their own homes for dinner and soon after went to bed. In the morning, Ara got up just as the morning before, but instead watched tv. She turned on Power Rangers and started watching intently the fighting styles and possible outcomes of each battle.


	3. Wearing Red

Disclaimer: Again, I don't own Power Rangers or anything affiliated to it.

Ok, personally, I think this is my best chapter so far, and I've neglected to continue the chapter, so don't expect an update for at least another week. I will continue the story though, mark my words! It shall continue! Happy reading! Kai

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After a few short hours Ara had lunch and went outside to do some training of her own. While it was important to train the others in their powers, she was sure they'd be anxious to practice on their own as well. First she practiced her earth abilities by planting pinecone seeds and seeing if it would grow. Once she was satisfied with the time it took her to grow a sapling, she used fire abilities to burn it down and water abilites to douse the fire. Finally she went to the park to practice her wind abilities. She was grateful that no one was there when she arrived. Ara climbed to the top of a slide and stretched out her arms. She was ready to fly. _To control the air currents would be a wonderful and useful ability._ she told herself. _All pain must subside. All fear must be pushed away. I have to embrace the fall, expect it, and yet, expect to soar among the birds above me._ She lifted one foot and jumped as high as she could with her arms outstretched; dissappointment was met with gravel sticking to her face. She was red, and her hands were sore. Determination burned, though, and she climbed the slide again, determined to fly. Again she stretched out her arms like a bird's wings and jumped as high as she could. This time her blow was softened by a cool wind, but that was not what she called flight. The gravel stuck to her hands and knees this time, but it was just as painful as the last time. After a few more tries and just as hard blows to the hands and knees, Ara saw Kari come from behind some bushes.

"Ara, please, just stop. Your hands are already bleeding," she said when she came close enough to Ara's falling point.

"How long have you been there?" Ara asked a little embarressed.

"Long enough," Kari said timidly; Ara sighed heavily.

"I'll be alright, Kari, I just need more practice," Ara tried gently, yet fustrated.

"No, you need me to heal you," Kara stated.

"Fine, but only so you get some practice too," Ara protested. Ara sat on the grass while Kari sat across from her and healed her hands. It took nearly ten minutes of silent concentration, but Kari finally managed to heal Ara and once done, the two talked.

"Ara, why are you out here?" Kari ventured.

"To practice," Ara tried.

"No, really. I've seen you practice stuff, it's not like this. When you practice you have enough sense to stop when you start bleeding this bad,"

"Kari, if I'm the red ranger it means I'm the leader. It means I'm the example, and it means I'm supposed to know what I'm doing. Because I'm a Power Ranger expert it means I should know everything to expect because those who don't learn from the past have no future. I did learn from the past rangers and what I learned was to strike quick and furious with great power before they get the better of us,"

"Just because you're supposed to know more doesn't mean you should know everything. We can't expect you to know everything about what the enemy's going to do. You're not alone,"

"Still, I need to know the full extent of my power, just as the rest of you do. If I can fly it'll be really helpful as opposed to just falling. If you or Tamara can bring someone near death back to full health it'll save lot of explaining why someone's kid is in the hospital. If Sean can fully turn into a nator, it'll be useful for sneaking into places and gathering information. If Jared can hide us all in his darkness like a shadow it'll make surprise attacks a whole lot easier. These are all major abilities that we can't accomplish yet, but I hope we will soon,"

"Wow, you've given a lot of thought to this,"

"Yes I have, and with the help of the episodes I've been able to make a few sure-fire conclusions about the future,"

"Oh? Like what?"

"Like we're going to have someone added to the team,"

"Someone else, really? Anything else?" Kari asked intrigued.

"Yes, but I'll leave the rest for later when we meet with the others," Kari gave a small dissappointed sigh, but she didn't seem to mind too much. Ara went back to practicing her earth, fire and water skills while Kari meditated. Eventually the others came and practiced their own skills. When Ara was tired of her practice and saw that the others were tired of their little training exercies as well, she decided it was time to talk of the future. "Hey everyone, bring it in. We've got stuff to talk about,"

"You sure we should do it here?" Sean asked.

"Well, no that's true, but where else?" Ara said dumbly.

"Let's go to the command center," Sean answered.

"Oh yeah, with Sidira! I sorta forgot about that place. Let's teleport there," With a simple nod and a few mumbles of agreement, they looked around to make sure no one was watching and teleported to the command center.

"Greetings rangers," Sidira said calmly.

"Hey Sidira. We're havin a team meeting and figured it was safest to discuss it here," Kari said cheerfully.

"Wise thinking,"

"It was my idea," Sean said proudly.

"Yeah, you got your moments," Ara joked.

"Hey!" The group laughed but soon settled down and sat on the steps that led to Sidira and the control panels, with the exception of Ara who remained standing.

"The reason I called this meeting was because of the future," Ara stated.

"The future? You're not going to tell me you used your psychic powers to see the future," Sean stated irritably.

"No, thank you very much. I used logic and over 10 generations of power ranger episodes to see the future," Ara explained.

"She says there's gonna be a sixth ranger with us!" Kari piped up.

"Oh? I coulda told you that," Sean said ruefully.

"I know, which is why that was the only thing I told Kari," Ara said seriously. "I also know that we're going to have to get more power than what we have now if we have any hope of beating Sidira's nephew. I predict it'll be a few months before we get a chance to beat this nephew person and we'll probably have to use every bit of power we have, even if it's not part of the 'ranger' power that we've been given,"

"That makes no sense. I mean, how are we supposed to get this power thing, and who's the new ranger, and for that matter why would we need another ranger?" Tamara asked.

"Don't you see what she's done?" Sean stood as he began to talk. "She's just found obvious trends in the power ranger groups. Everyone's had an extra ranger or two to help out because in their current state, the original five wouldn't be strong enough. Also, the new power source, it's unknown, a mystery even to Sidira because it's such a great and legendary power. We won't know this new ranger when he comes at first, but they'll probably turn out to be a good friend, most of them are," he explained.

"Alright, Mr. I-Know-Everything-About-Power-Rangers, wanna tell us what else you know will happen?" Ara asked annoyed.

"Not really," Sean answered sheepishly as he sat back down.

"Ok then, may I continue?" Ara asked with a little less harsh of a tone. Sean nodded sheepishly while Kari and Tamara tried to hide a small wave of giggles. "Now, to get this new power: I don't know what we have to do, but we need to push our current powers to the limit. I've been practicing my powers as much as you guys, Kari's my witness, and I think we should try things that are a bit harder, once we get the basics down," Ara paused waiting a few seconds for any interrupting inputs but was met with none except a few nods. "Basics I think should be: basic animal shifting of large or dangerous animals for Sean, hands that heal and hurt for Kari and Tamara, shielding shadows and forcefields that can reflect an enemy's attack back at them for Jared and I need to master deadly distractions with my elements."

"Once this is mastered we can move on to harder things. Sean, you'll want to learn human transformations next, you know transforming into other people. Of course you're not allowed to abuse the power and you know what I'm talking about. Tamara, Kari, I want you two to learn some type of martial arts, hand to hand combat, or sword and staff attacks. To know how to heal is one thing, it doesn't do much good alone though. You need to learn to take the offensive. Jared, once you've got the shielding down you should probably move on to more detailed attakcs. Maybe psychic minds, or pressure points or something like that. Learn to use any shadow to attack the opponent with. As for me, I'll be learning how to combine the elements to make new stuff like hurricanes, lightening, and various metalics," Ara's explaination was a steady pace, but still a lot to take in. No one spoke at first, but once Ara sat down, the converstaion picked up again.

"You've had a lot of time to think about this, haven't you?" Tamara asked with an unfamiliar smile.

"Yes, yes I have," Ara stated matter of factly.

"I have two questions," Jared nodded toward Sidira. Everyone looked at Jared with quizzical looks, surprised to hear him speak. "What's your nephew's name and why are we the only ones who can see the nators?"

"Those are both good questions, only one of which I am able to answer fully. He calls himself Master Rexus. He's conquered only a few galaxies but each one is a over a hundred times larger than your solar system,"

"Woah.." Sean mumbled to himself.

"I'm sorry to say I cannot answer your second question. I do not know why you five specifically are able to see my nephew's nators while others are not. What I do know, is there are only a handful of humans on Earth that are able to see them and you five were the largest cluster. I was quite amazed, but also quite pleased. I suppose if anything, there is something special that burns inside you all that allow you to see them, what it is though, I have no idea," Sidira finished. Everyone took a moment or two to think and absorb what Sidira said before anything else was mentioned.

"So this puts a damper on Ara's sixth ranger idea. How is there going to be a sixth ranger if only a few of us can actually see the creatures," Tamara stated logically.

"Maybe they won't go to Maine North. Maybe they're outta the country or even from another planet!" Ara tried.

"Like the alien rangers?" Sean asked curiously.

"Maybe," Ara said with a shrug. She checked her watch and to her surprise it was getting late. With nothing further to discuss, the group went to their respective homes for dinner.

In the morning, Ara had family plans, so the others started their training session without her. In the begining the group wasn't sure what to do. Ara had always split them up, giving them direct and simple directions on what to do. With out Ara, Tamara and Kari had no one to practice their basic healing on and Sean and Jared didn't know how far to space out so they wouldn't hit eachother in practicing. Tamara soon took charge though. Remembering what Ara had said the day before, Tamara seperated Sean and Jared and instructed them the way Ara had, then turned to Kari and together they figured out what fighting moves might be effective against the nators. Ara came in the mid-afternoon with some sports drinks to go around, but as she turned the corner she saw everyone training and came up with an idea. She combined the dirt with some water and made nator looking figures, then using very bit of strength, she made the nators attack the rangers. She made sure not to attack too hard, but just enough to give each one of her friends a decent workout. It took some time, but the group destroyed the fake nators and when they did Ara came walking out, clapping her hands with approval.

"Did you see? We beat them, all by ourselves!" Kari exclaimed happily.

"Yeah, but where was the monster?" Sean asked suspiciously.

"No where," Ara smiled. She passed out the drinks and let everyone sit before she explained further.

"Watcha talkin about?" Sean asked.

"You're not the only one who's been practicing. I made the nators to give ya a challenge before you guys got your reward."

"That wasn't very nice, ya know," Kari complained.

"I know, but I wanted to see where you were in your training. Sorry,"

"Whatever. How'd you make those things anyway?" Tamara asked.

"The same way putties were made, using the clay and dirt in the ground, combined with some water, and a little molding talent," Ara said proudly.

"Make them again," Jared ordered out of nowhere.

"Why?" Ara asked curiously.

"To train us. Make the nators again, only harder. We won't better ourselves if we don't challenge ourselves," Jared answered.

"Ok, if that's what you want," Ara said a little unsure. She rested for another five minutes, enjoying the nice sun, then made the nators again, quicker this time. The moves the nators did were similar to the ones Ara saw the real nators do. After a while Ara's creations wore her out and she had to stop, but not before real nators came onto the scene. They mixed well, and no one, even Ara, could tell which ones were real or fake until Ara fell to her hands and knees shaking. A few nators dissappeared, but the rest stayed. The group gathered around Ara when they saw her fall.

"Uhm, I think we've had enough practice, call them off will ya?" Sean asked.

"Not.. mine," Ara panted.

"Then whose are they?" Kari asked. Ara merely pointed across to the nators where a monster teleported into view.  
"Mine! Rangers, I am Flareon; prepare yourselves for battle!"

"Ara, what do we do?" Tamara asked.

"We do what we have to," Ara answered as she staggered to stand. "Let's ranger up," everyone took out their monsters and stood ready to morph.

"Darkness," Jared called.

"Transformer," Sean called.

"Healerl," Tamara and Kari called in unison.

"Elemental," Ara called. Everyone was instantly morphed into their respective colors. They drew their pistols and got ready to fire.

"Ha, those things will do you no good!" the Flareon jeered. He pointed his sword to the rangers and the nators attacked. The group seperated and defended well against the nators. When most of them were gone, the nators regrouped to Flareon. "You are good. You all have trained hard, yet still have energy to fight, all except you," he pointed to Ara who was visibly tired. She sagged more than the others, but did her best to keep her ground. "I want to fight you,"

"No!" Tamara stated.

"You can't!" Kari shouted.

"We refuse!" Sean called.

"No. I'll do it," Ara said. She walked forward slowly and drew her weapon.

"Ara, no, you'll only get more hurt," Kari argued.

"I know that Kari, but like I said, we do what we have to," Ara said solomnly. Ara stopped about 3 yards away from the monster, pistol ready in hand to shoot.

"Ranger you have guts, I'll give you that much but your skill has dulled. You fall will be swift, then I will go after your friends,"

"I don't think so," Ara said just barely audible. The Flareon drew his sword and charged Ara. She ducked at just the right second and turned in time to shoot her pistol into his back. The group cheered as they saw the sparks fly, but their faces fell when they heard the monster laugh.

"You call that a blast? That was a tickle! Now, feel my power!" the Flareon swiped his sword horizontally through the air and fire soared through the at Ara's chest. She flew back as sparks rose from her chest. Fearfully, she watched as Flareon came closer with each step.

_I'm sitll in morphed form, so it must mean I still have something to give. But what? What the heck can I do?_ she though to herself. Ara got up before the monster came and aimed her pistol. She shot hopelessly, knowing Flareon would easily dodge it, which he did. He easily reflected the blasts with his sword and continued to walk foward. As much as she hated to admit it, she needed help. This could no longer stay her battle.

"Time to tag team!" she suddenly called out. Ara jumped and flipped over Flareon then tagged Kari's hand. "You're right, I'm not alone," Ara recited. "Let's do this,"

"Right!" the group agreed happily. Ara led the charge with new found energy and together the group attacked. With kicks, punches and power blasts, Flareon fell hard to the ground smoking.

"I thought you were honorable, Red Ranger!"

"About as honorable as you are for choosing the most weakend warrior to fight one on one,"

"I will be back, mark my words," Flareon stated determined. He turned and jumped through a portal. Any other time, Ara would have gone through after him, but she was in no shape to persue and she knew it.

"Ara, do we follow?" Sean asked.

"No, not this time," Ara answered as she demorphed and sat down on the grass. The others demorphed as well, but stayed standing.

"Than what do we do?" Tamara continued.

"I don't know what you guys plan to do, but I'm going home. You all'll be fine on your own, but I'm no good anymore. I'm goin' home. I'll see you all tomorrow. Remember, training in the pit tomorrow," Ara instructed. She heaved herself up and walked home by herself as the others watched.

"Well, lesson one learned, I think. She may be our leader, but we're still a team," Sean declared.

"What are you talking about?" Tamara asked.

"It's a ranger classic. Red ranger wants to do everything, but learns they're not alone. She walked right into that one," Sean explained lightly.

"Whatever, I'll see you all tomorrow," Tamara left for home with Kari on her heels. Jared and Sean said their good-bye as well and went home equally tired.


	4. Green Stands for Jealousy

Disclaimer: Reminder, I don't own Power Rangers or anything affiliated to it. Just the plots, twists, and characters that are in this fanfic.

Ok, I really went green this time, lol. (thus the title). I change perspectives this time, seeing how it works out. FYI, I'm a girl writing this, so guys, hope you're not too insulted if I don't get the "guy atmosphere and attitude" right. Still, I did try. O, and when you see italics with a new paragraph, it means they're on AIM, but I think it's pretty self explanitory. Enjoy! Kai

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_A power ranger; a real power ranger. No way_. Sean layed in his bed, staring blankly at his ceiling covered in glow in the dark stars. He placed them up there himself when he was six, in order to make his room look like the Power Ranger's Command Center he'd seen on TV. When he reached the ripe age of 12, he had to withold his Power Ranger fandom, but not anymore. He was a Power Ranger now, and that meant he could talk to his new friends about the episodes and claim he was studying the moves. Only one thing bothered him now, and that was the fact that he wasn't the red ranger. He was the green ranger, the cocky, sarcastic, ranger-nerd green ranger. He wanted red, or at the very least, a guy should have been the leader, even if it wasn't him. _They broke all the rules with that one! No girls are supposed to be the red ranger; unless they were evil!_ However, she wasn't evil and he knew it. What's more, she was a good ranger, and a good leader. _Guess that's just one broken rule I'll have to live with... I guess._ he finally concluded. He yawned, stretched, curled, switched sides and finally fell into a light weary sleep. He'd been a ranger for three days now, and as fun as it was, sleep was needed.

Sean woke at 7, showered, dressed and did his hair. Once each dab of gel was in the right place, and his green Tag body spray was sufficient, he went downstairs, grabbed breakfast and ran to catch the bus for school. _Just in time!_ he congradulated himself.

"Hey, Seanie boy!" someone called from a seat. "You just cost me a quarter, ya butt!"

"What are you talkin about man?" Sean called back as he walked closer.

"I bet a quarter you wouldn't make it to the bus. Thanks a lot ya bum," the friend said with a smile.

"Hey no problem. My pleasure," Sean joked back. The ride to school was uneventful, aside from the crude jokes told back and forth between the cliques. Upon arrival, Sean went to his locker, picked up his books and unfinished homework and made it to class just as the bell rang. On time again; he was lucky today. His day went on in a similar fashion but by the end of the day, he was in no mood to be recieving directions. He went to the fitness center, also known as the Pit to the Maine North student body, as was agreed three days ago and found everyone waiting.

"There you are! We were worried you'd forgotten," Kari said cheerfully.

"Sorry, long day," Sean shrugged.

"So, what are we gonna do down here anyway?" Tamara asked logically. _There she goes again, always questioning. Why can't she ever just shut up and wait and see?_ he asked himself.

"We're gonna work out. Us girls'll stretch over there and work out in that half, and you boys can stretch and work out with those other guys over there," Ara explained. Jared nodded and Sean shrugged to show they understood. Sean wasn't entirely opposed to working out and showing he wasn't as weak as he looked, however he was never a fan of working out more than he had to. Gym class was never his favorite, and he didn't play any sports, but if he was to succede as a ranger, this was one sacrifice he would have to make. Ara, Tamara and Liz went off to stretch and show just how flexible they were while most of the guys who were lifting weights stopped to watch. Several whistles and cheers were heard, but the girls did their best to ignore them. As the girls started on the track, Sean started lifting one hundred pounds worth of benchpress weights with Jared spotting him.

"Fourteen, fifteen.. Why are the girls just running. shouldn't they be working on their muscles? I mean, they are girls," Sean asked Jared as he continued to lift.

"They will lift, when we run. For now, we lift and they run," Jared explained shortly.

"Right... so what do you think of all this.. you know, ranger stuff?" Sean continued.

"What is there to think? I think we need to be ready for anything,"

"Yeah, but I mean, a girl red ranger?"

"She's doing a good job so far. We all have lessons to learn, as does she, and so far, she has kept us fit and alert,"

"Yeah, I guess," Sean mused. "Wait, what number am I on?"

"Twenty-one,"

"Right.. Twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-four. So what'd you get on the math test?" They were in the same class, and Sean didn't see a need to keep talking about ranger business with a dozen potential eavesdroppers around.

"Ninety-five. You?" Jared answerd calmly.

"Ninety-five? Damn, Seventy-six. How are you so smart?" Sean asked as he set the weight back on its holster. Jared shrugged, but didn't answer. He went to the weights took another two twenty pound weights and added them equally to each side of the bar. "You know, I won't be able to spot you too well with those,"

"It's ok, just make sure you don't lose count," Jared ordered.

"Whatever," Sean helped him lift the bar and get used to the weight, then let go as he watched and counted Jared's lifts. After an even thirty, Jared set the bar back on the holster with Sean's help and the two sat and watched the girls walk in the room.

"You guys ready to switch?" Kari asked cheerfully.

"What do you think?" Sean asked semi-sarcastically.

"Well you are just sitting there, so I'm gonna say.. yes?" Ara asked with a smile.

"Yeah, we're ready," Jared answered. He stood up and Sean followed him to the track. Sean watched as Ara, Kari and Tamara spread out and started doing weighted sit ups, leg raises, and leg-presses. "Ready?" Jared asked interrupting Sean's thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm ready," he answered getting in a runner's position.

"Go,"

The two ran around the track, as if it were a race, but neither one said anything. After seven laps around the track Sean started slowing down, so Jared slowed down as well. This annoyed Sean, making him want to keep going. _How is he so fit too? I mean, he's girl's dream; smart, in great shape, a strong and silent type. There's gotta be some flaw to him. Well I'm not gonna be the one who loses to him..._ he thought stubbornly. Sean kept going but after another two laps he was done. He walked for a final lap and got a drink before resting.

"You done?" Jared asked.

"Yeah, I'm done," Sean announced bitterly.

"Good, me too," Jared said as he sat down next to Sean.

"What's the problem with Ara as the red ranger?" Jared suddenly brought up. Sean looked at him in surprise; Jared wasn't known as one to ask such questions.

"Nuttin," Sean lied with a shrug.

"Good try. I see the way you look at her; you're jealous," Jared smiled. This was definately not Jared, but at the same time, he knew it was.

"It's just not right, ok?" Sean avoided.

"Why? Because she's the first girl to upstage you in your favorite kid show?"

"Just leave it alone, man," Sean answered annoyed.

"Whatever," Jared said, back in his usual tone. The girls soon joined them and the group talked for the rest of the time in a hushed voice. They didn't talk about ranger things, just about interests, and such because Ara thought it a good idea to get to know eachother more since they were on the same team. Jared only answered in short, to the point answers, Sean avoided most of the questions he felt were too prying and the girls did most of the talking. At five, the group exchanged phone numbers, and aim screen names, since they all had the aim program, and left to change to go home. Sean and Jared caught the bus home while Ara, and Tamara carpooled with Kari to their own homes.

Sean used his house keys, and stepped inside. No one was home. _Big surprise_. he mocked himself. He went to the refridgerator and took out a can of Mountian Dew Code Red and started working on his homework. After five minutes though he got bored and went online. He started playing a game but his morpher beeped a short tune with a voice that followed.

"Sean, Flareon's downtown, quick," Ara instructed. Sean cursed under his breath and left an away message, then got up to morph and teleport. "Transformer!" With a quick press of a button on his morpher, Sean teleported in ranger form to the scene of the attack where Ara, Kari, Tamara and Jared were already fighting some nators and the monster from yesterday who called himself Flareon.

"Ah, you're all here I see!" Flareon announced sounding pleased.

_Well duh, I am a power ranger._ he said to himself. Sean immediately went to help. He kicked and punched and shot at the nators taking out five at once.

"Alright, way to go Sean!" Ara said loudly. Sean smiled to himself for the recognition and continued until Ara called the group back.

"What's up? We're winning," Sean asked.

"Yeah, against the nators. We gotta take care of Flareon so he doesn't come back,"

"Ok, so you got a plan?" Tamara asked. _There she goes again with the questions. Of course Ara has a plan, duh._ Sean thought again.

"Yes, I do. Jared, I'm gonna try and cool him off with water, I want you to follow with a cloak of darkness to try and smother his hot-headed self. Kari, Tamara, Sean, for now I want you guys to keep beating the hidiacs and clear me and Jared a path to the monster. Got it?" Ara asked. The group nodded in agreement and the plan was put into action. Sean transformed himself into a bear and started taking out hidiacs left and right, while Kari and Tamara used their new hand to hand combat moves to finish the path. Ara went first and shot a giant wave of water at Flareon, which made him fall to the ground. Ara quickly moved out of the way and Jared jumped in right after her, creating a large blanket to smother Flareon. The group quickly reformed and watched as Flareon struggled to remove the blanket and the last remaining hidiacs dissappeared in a cloud of smoke. "Let's finish him!" Ara stated. The rangers took out their pistols and pointed them at one direct spot in his chest. They fired as one and the monster went down hard with an explosion.

"We did it!" Kari exclaimed. _You'd think she'd gotten use to this by now._ he thought.

"Alright!" Tamara said happily.

"Way to go team!" Ara congradulated.

"Yes!" Sean agreed outloud; Jared silently nodded with approval. Just as they were about to demorph, Flareon rose and grew the the size of a skyscrapper.

"Hahahaha! How do you like me now?!" The monster said happily as he started stepping on buildings and knocking them down.

"Why am I not surprised?" Ara asked. "Everyone ready? We need the power of spirits. Please come!" Each of the five zords came into view, and the group jumped into their respective zord. "Dragon Ready to go!" Ara announced.

"Lion ready to go" Jared stated.

"Monkey, ready to go," Sean answered.

"Unicorn ready to go!" Kari said.

"Pheonix ready to go," Tamara finished.

"Well red ranger? Do we combine or stay seperate?" Sean asked.

"Let's combine, it'll be easier," Ara stated logically. The group did as told and combined their zords into one to form one giant human based zord.

"Just because you have grown too doesn't mean a thing. I'll still beat you," Flareon stated.

"Beat us once, shame on you, beat us twice shame on us!" Sean said cockily.

"Come on guys, Samari Sword, Activate!" Ara stated.

"Ah, I've got a sword too!" Flareon said happily. A flaming sword soon appeared in his hands and he charged the zord. The zord blocked using its own sword and blows were exchanged. A few times the zord started to lose balance, but the group held it together, and attacked back.

"This is getting no where. Anyone else got a plan?" Ara asked outloud.

"I have an idea," Tamara offered. "Let's combine the Samari Sword with the Lion wind to create a Razor Wind attack,"

"Me like. Let's try it," Ara commented. With the push of a few buttons and pull of a lever or two, they made the attack, but the monster got up again and seemed even stronger.

"Don't you know, nothing can beat the raw heat of fire!" Flareon said proudly.

"Fire..." Sean mumbled more to himself then anyone. "Ara, does this thing have a water attack?"

"Probably, it's based off our powers, so it should. Why? He's strong enough that water alone won't douse him,"

"No, but water will weaken him, then we can use the Samari Sword and attack,"

"A sword and water attack, that's brilliant!" Ara exclaimed. "Alright guys, let's put it to action!" The group pressed more buttons and pulled more levers, and water came streaming out of the lion's mouth and then the zord used the sword to slice right through Flareon. As Sean had predicted, Flareon had been weakend enough that the sword cut right through him and the monster fell with another explosion. The group jumped out of the giant zord and watched as it reverted into 5 different, smaller, zords and went back to wherever they came from.

"That was some good thinkin!" Ara told Sean when they demorphed.

"Thanks," Sean said a little uneasy. The group said their good-byes, and teleported home in a fairly good mood. Sean went back online, feeling pleased no one was home when he returned, and realized he had died in his game. Not a big deal, and he was done with it anyway. Who needed the fake, simluated danger of a game, when he got a chance to face real danger as a ranger. He went on AIM to find Jared, and Ara on, and Kari away.

_Hey! Some battle eh?_ Ara instant messaged him.

_Yeah, some battle._ Sean typed back.

_Look, I've only known you for a little while, but I still don't get something._

_What?_

_Why are you jealous of me being red ranger?_

_What?!_

_Jared told me. _she typed. "Traitor," he said to himself.

_I'm not jealous ok? It's cool you're red ranger. I'm just glad to be a ranger at all_.

_Oh? So you're not jealous?_

_No. I'm not, ok? You and Jared.. just leave it alone._

_I can't. A team can't function with jealousy in the way._

_Look, I'm not jealous! I'm glad you're red ranger ok? Wouldn't have it any other way!_

_Really now. Whatever. Look I'm sorry it bothers you that Sidira picked me, but there's nothing I can do about it. And FYI, you're doing a bad job of not showing how bad it's bothering you._

_Shut up._

_Hey, I could always pull a Jack Landers and be like "I'm red ranger and that's an order"_

_You wouldn't. You're too nice._

_So it seems. I'm mean enough to destroy Rexus's monsters._

_So it seems._

_:P I'm going._

_K, Bye. _With that, Ara signed off leaving Sean very irritated.

_JERK!_ he typed to Jared.

_What did I do?_ Jared typed back.

_You told Ara I was jealous of her being red ranger... which, btw is a lie._

_It's written all over your face, and screen name._

_No it's not._

_Right, GenerationRedRanger_. Sean flushed a little at Jared's comment. As much as Sean hated to admit it, he was right. Sean worshiped all the red rangers, and made his screen name based off them.

_So? Better than yours, DarkDude21._

_What do you expect from a pronounced satanist and black ranger?_

_I'll see you tomorrow._ Sean concluded. He signed off, made himself a microwave able tv meal, and went watch his favorite Power Ranger re-runs untl his parents got home at eight and nine o'clock. By ten he was in bed, and peacefully went to sleep knowing tomorrow he'd wake up again, realizing once again: he was a real power ranger.


	5. Suoregnad

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers or anything affiliated with it. Just this story and the characters and twists in it.

Ok, so I switched back to Ara's view. Pretty light reading, more just like a filler. It tells how a powerful weapon is created. Just remember, in the world of fanfic, anyone can be a ranger! Also, I give credit to my internet brother: Matt. He's always been a great Power Rangers source of inspiration for me! May the Power Protect you!

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Ara was about to fall asleep as her mind drifted from one topic to another. She had accumulated quite a few battles in the past week. It seemed like every other day there was a battle, which gave her little time to practice, and even littler time to keep with her normal schedual. Monday was a practice day, however Tuesday was a cartooning club day, Wednesday was a day she devoted to homework club, Thursday was a martial arts day, and Friday was a day she left to relax. Monday she and the others fought, Tuesday evil left alone, Wednesday she and Kari had to skip homework club and battle a few hidiacs in the park, and evil seemed to enjoy wrecking havock on Thursdays because they had another zord battle by the school, which got partially destroyed again, so Friday's school day was cancled again. With the Autumn coming to an end, and snow begining to fall, Ara had to make plans with Sidira about zord care and weapons so Friday afternoon, when her family went out, Ara snuck to the command center. "Evening Sidira," she greeted.

"Good evening, Ara," Sidira replied politely.

"What do we do in the winter?" Ara randomly asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I was just thinkin, winter's coming up and it gets pretty cold in Lexington. What do we do if our zords freeze up in battle or something?

"Your zords shouldn't freeze in battle. The heating and cooling systems are far more advanced than you might imagine,"

"Well, what about our weapons? They're rinky-dink compared to the zords," Ara thought outloud.

"Ara, you needn't worry. No weapon or zord should freeze or melt from Earth's natural temperatures,"

"But they can freeze or melt,"

"With the proper temperatures, yes,"

"Think I could try to build a weapon?"

"I suppose, but first--" Sidira started a little uneasy.

"Sweet! See ya later!" Ara said happily teleporting home. With a new task at hand, Ara began the blue-prints. Once she drew them by hand, she went online and began drawing them on the computer. As she was a third of the way through with this step, her friend came online. He went by the name of Matt, but she called him brother, and was the only one she knew who could out-do her in a Power Rangers Trivia battle.

_Hey Sis! _he instant messaged her.

_Hey big bro, what's up?_ she asked casually as she continued working on her new weapon.

_Nothin. Wanna rp?_ he asked. Rp was their abbreviation for role play and was their short hand for role play Power Rangers. It had always been fun to Ara to pretend she was a Power Ranger and to fight evil along side the real characters. Today though she was in no mood. She was entirely immersed in her new weapon-to-be, and was determined to at least get the blue-prints drawn up on the computer.

_Sorry, not today. I'm really busy._ she tried.

_Please???It won't be for long._ he begged. She could tell he was anxious. They hadn't talked in a while and he loved to roleplay as much as she did.

_I'm working on a project, sorry. _she continued as she toiled over her blue-prints.

_Oh.. ok.. _( _I guess I'll just leave you alone. _he answered sadly. Even though Ara didn't feel like role playing today, she didn't want him to stop talking to her. She enjoyed his digital company and was even ready to ask for his oppinoin.

_Wait brother, I could use some help._ she started.

_You're not gonna ask me to do your work for you, are you?_

_lol No, don't worry. I was just gonna ask for you oppinoin._

_Oh, ok. Sure.._ She sent him a picture of what she had done so far and waited for him to respond.

_What is it?_ he first asked. As she looked again to question whether it was really that hard to make out her intended picture, she realized she hadn't told him exactly what she was doing.

_It's a new ranger weapon. I call it.. the..._ she paused in her typing. She hadn't thought of a name for her new weapon. She didn't want to copy the names already out from the tv series; she knew she'd get enough comment from Sean and she didn't need Matt's objection as well. She thought for a while before Matt brought her back to reality.

_Well? What is it?_ he asked. She sent what she had typed after deleting the "I call it.. the..." _Oh, cool. I thought this was for school or something._

_lol, no. it's not for school, but it has been keeping me busy. I wanted to finish the blue-prints before I had to sign off._ she explained truthfully.

_Oh ok. I understand._

_So what do you think? besides "cool"?_ she asked.

_It's pretty cool. How does this work though?_

_Well, the energy is stored in the big circle on the right.._ Ara started explaining everything she could and by doing so, she thought through every detail possible. She explained the central core, how the weapon came together, how it was used and even how powerful she predicted it to be.

_So what do you call it?_ he finally asked. Even though she'd thought of everything, that was one thing she hadn't thought of. Names were always difficult and this was no exception. It needed to be something short, sweet, and easy to remember. Finally, it dawned on her what to call it. Backward names were always good in stories, so why was this any exception.

_Suoregnad._ she replied.

_Suoregnad? How do you get that?!_

_Easy, it's dangerous backwards. With all the fire power this baby'll be packin, there's no better name other than dangerous._

_lol. If you say so. You talk about it as if it's real, are you gonna make it?_ Ara began to panic. Was she really making this seem real? Or was he just getting too into it? Either way, she had to redirect him.

_Course not. I've got next to no talent when it comes to making stuff come alive. I can't even grow a simple little plant._ she typed back. _Now there's a decent lie._ she thought to herself as she remembered growing saplings and burning them down for her training.

_Oh, ok, cause it'd be pretty cool if you did make it. I'd really like to see if when it was finished._

_lol, that makes two of us._ she played along. She continued working as they discussed what it would be like to use a ranger weapon and by the time her family came home and called for dinner she was done with her blue-prints. She said her farewell to Matt and went to enjoy the meal, afterward working on color schemes and other minute details she felt she could complete before the night was through. Saturday came and another battle took place. The group met in the morning at the battle and began getting rid of the Nators before anyone said any type of greeting. Oddly enough, each of them had the same idea and hadn't morphed when they first arrived on the scene. They were pretty strong with just using the powers given by Sidira and the ranger power. Ara used her fire abilities against the monster which was called Hexeron, while Sean transformed into a fierce lion and went after the nators. Tamara and Kari used some martial arts moves and Jared used levitation to move rocks and such to assist Sean. As the group finished the last of the nators they noticed Ara had already morphed so they also morphed and started to help Ara.


	6. Risk

Disclaimer: Ok, again, I don't own Power Rangers or anything affiliated to it. I don't own the weapons, the characters, the anything. I'm just doing this for fun.

Hey, been a while, right? Sorry, I've been working on other chapters and was doing my best to tie this with a future chapter. We finally have power weapons, yay!

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Each ranger kicked and punched as hard as they could. They used their blasters and while it did do some damage, it wasn't enough. The monster set a heavy blast to the group and they flew back a few feet with sparks coming from each of them. "Ara, any ideas?" Tamara asked.  
"Not really.. I've been working on something, but they're not even close to being done," Ara answered.

"What else do we have?" Sean asked fustrated.

"Duh! Our powers! Let's see those animals, and martial arts! Jared, keep up a shield, we could use it, I'll go in with a fire and wind blaze after Sean, who'll go in after Kari and Tamara," Ara commanded.

"If you say so," Sean mumbled. Tamara and Kari tag teamed and attacked using TaeKwan Do kicks and Jujitsu hand moves against the monster, then moved quickly so Sean could come in. He had transformed into a tiger and pounced onto the monster, clawing straight into the monster's chest, then leaped off in time for Ara to make her move. Ara came charging in, careful not to attack while Sean was in the way, and sent a wind turbine of fire where Sean had begun the rip. Surprisingly, their powers were much stronger while in ranger form than demorphed. The group moved before the blast from the monster's fall came, with Jared constantly covering them with his shield of darkness. The monster fell alright, but not how they expected. A small explosion was all they got, but the monster did stay down. Just as the group was about celebrate their tough victory, a strange, red warp opened in the sky and another creature dropped out. He was taller than average, two horns on his head, spikes down his back, greeves and a full body plated armor with red as his major color. He wore a red, lightly torn, scarf that seemed to have seen better days and a sword still in its sheeth.

"You are pathetic!" he said to the monster.

"Who are you?!" Ara demanded.

"That doesn't matter. Just know I am your worst nightmare,"

"No you're not. My worst nightmare consists of a Chucky doll and an old wax museum house! So with that eliminated, who are you?" Sean stated in a cocky voice.

" I wouldn't be telling him that," Tamara commented.

"I agree. If you must know, I am called Sacul. I am the right hand man of Master Rexus, destroyer of a hundred races, and the one who will rule Earth when it is conquered!"

"Sounds like you're just bragging now, buddy," Sean taunted.

"Sean, shut up!" Ara commanded. Sean shrunk a little and stepped back.

"Wise decision, red ranger. Surrendur now to the might of Master Rexus and you may be spared, along wih a few of your friends," Sacul hissed as he looked at Sean. Ara knew this game; she was to give the team over and either be pawns or slaves, either way: expendable. She wasn't ready to give up that easily.

"I don't think so. You see, we've agreed to protect the Earth, you know, not let it get conquered. Thanks anyway," Ara said diplomatically.

"That wasn't an offer," Master Rexus stated. He layed one hand about three feet above the monster and the group watched as the monster grew in size. His features were the same, but Ara could feel the power increase.

"Get ready guys, he's stronger now," Ara said.

"Yeah, we know, we can feel it too," Tamara answered.

"No, I will give you rangers time. It would not be honorable to simply attack with you all caught off guard like this," Sacul stated. He teleported himself and the monster away, to what Ara assumed, was their lair.

"Ok, so why did he just leave?" Tamara asked.

"Because he's humiliating us, that's why!" Sean answered angrily.

"Ya know, as much as it's supposed to hurt the pride, mine seems to be intact. I think I'll take the time his carelessness bought us," Ara said lightly.

"So you're not even bothered that he didn't finish us off?" Sean asked a little calmer.

"Sean, it's just more proof we're the good guys. We can't be destroyed if we're meant to save the world. I say we go home and plan. We'll be ready next time!" Ara said confidently. She teleported home to get her schematics and then to the command center where she started working on building the real thing. She found scrap metal in the basement and searched for a bit for the right tools and workspace. Once she found what she needed, she began her project.

"Ara, what are you making?" Sidira asked when Ara was working on the main frame. Ara stopped her work and looked at it from a few angles before answering.

"It's a weapon.. or at least the basic frame of a weapon," she answered in an obvious tone.

"Ara, when I said you could create a weapon, I meant theoretically. You need schematics, wiring, energy sources. Where do you think your weapon gets its power from?" Sidira asked a bit worried. Ara could hear the hesitation, but went back to work.

"Already have the covered. The same thing that powers our morphers should sufice. I have everything planned out down to the last detail,"

"May I see?"

"Of course. Schematics are here," Ara pressed a few buttons and a bunch of diagrams came up on the plasma touch screen and Sidira poked around looking at Ara's handiwork. Ara soon finished the frame and started on the casing, the energy tubes, buttons, and other large pieces that could be finished by the end of the day. Before she left, she stored all her work in a room Sidira let her use, and made sure she took the schematics home with her. Not that she didn't trust the command center, but Ara liked to know where her prints were, at all times. That night Ara only thought of her project and continued thinking through minor problems she might encounter. Sunday came and Ara told her parents she was hanging out with friends that day so she could go back and finish her weapon. She worked on the wiring, and computer chips and copied advanced technologies from the group's original weapons. She did her best and with Sidira's help, Ara finished one weapon by the end of the day. It was one large laser-weapon, assembled by five smaller weapons, and a sixth one if they chose to use it, and each one could turn into a blaster if they wanted. Ara's was a red staff about a foot taller than she which could shoot the element she wanted. Sean's was a green boomerang that when thrown hard enough it would appear to be a razor disc that could cut through even the toughest metal. Kari's was a pink, double-sided, energy whip. The solid handle was in the middle and she could choose to use only one end, or both ends as a whip which was made of laser energy. Tamara's were two, small, yellow, blasters similar to the red ranger's blasters from the S.P.D. episodes, that turned into a fencing-sabre sword about her arm's length. Jared's was a black crossbow which made arrows from energy. All he had to do was pull back on the string and an arrow would be ready to fire.

As she thought, that night, she found she was right: her new weapon would be firing a lot of energy and would be very dangerous to use. She decided the next time she had the time, she would test the weapon to see just how much energy it took to work it and how much damage it would do.

Monday rolled around and Ara happily went to school, excited for their after school training to inform her friends of her work. However, the morning rush of classes were interrupted by a monster attack. Sacul and the monster from two days ago had arrived and looking for a fight. "Power Rangers! Come and face us now, or the innocents of this school shall perish!" Sacul called out. Ara was the first on the scene. She had a free period and was able to morph without anyone seeing.

"I'm here, but I wouldn't call everyone here innocent. This is a high school after all," Ara joked.

"Ah, red ranger; you've come, but where is the rest of your team?" Sacul asked.

"Oh, they'll be here eventually," Ara answered confidently.

"They may be here eventually, but eventually may be too late. Get her," Sacul ordered the monster. Ara felt him to be just as strong as when he had left. She dodged his lasers and energy beams, but nators soon came to help him. Ara did her best to make a ring of fire around her and the monster and tried fighting one on one, but the nators didn't seem to be affected very much by the fire. They jumped through the fire and held her tight as the monster prepared a large blast. Ara fearfully watched as he powered up, ready to fire at any unknown second, and then unleashed it on her and everything in the surrounding area. Just as she thought she was about to be finished, four colorful blurs came from the corner of her eye. Ara turned to see two of her fellow rangers attack the monster as Jared created a strong enough barrier to withstand the blast and Kari released her from the nators.

"You can't believe how glad I am to see you guys," Ara said gratefully.

"Oh, I think we know. Are you ok?" Kari asked as Jared went to them.

"Tired, but I'll live," Ara said happily as they joined Tamara and Sean against the monster.

"Woulda come sooner, but Jared and I were in the middle of a huge math test," Sean inputed as he was pushed back into Ara.

"Guess you're thrilled then," Ara joked.

"Yeah, saved by the monster," Tamara joined. The group continued their strong attack, but was gradually pushed into eachother and surrounded by more nators. The nators continued their attack, but the rangers made sure to defend well and not lose their tight circle as they discussed their next plan of attack.

"They just keep coming," Kari said worridly.

"You rangers are nothing!" the monster stated with victory in his voice.

"Sidira, what do we do now?" Sean asked into his morpher.

"Rangers, I suggest you use Ara's weapons. They should prove to be effective against the monster,"

"Well Ara?" Tamara asked assumingly.

"I don't know guys, I haven't tested them yet," Ara started. She didn't like the idea of using untested weapons, especially ones she'd made.

"No time like the present!" Sean stated.

"Yeah, but if it uses too much energy, or isn't effective enough. We could end up screwing ourselves even more," Ara tried.

"Ara, we have to try. We have nothing else," Kari stated. Ara made another, obviously useless, ring of fire as she took a moment to think. _Kari's got a point. Sean's shape-shifted out, Jared's powers are weakening, my fire's doing nothing, and we can't use Kari and Tamara too much or they won't have enough energy to even heal themselves. If we use the Souregnad weapons, we could end up destroying ourselves, but if we don't, we're gonners._

"Don't say I didn't warn you," Ara started. She could tell she'd made a pleasing decision, but she wasn't sure if it was a good one. "Souregnad Weapons, Activate!" Ara called. Suddenly, five weapons appeared and each ranger took their respectively colored weapon.

"Woah, these are rockin!" Tamara said happily.

"Now this should be good!" Sean stated.

"Ara, you are made these?!" Kari exclaimed.

"Not bad," Jared chided in approval. The group, with new found energy, attacked and began widening their circle, taking out dozens of nators. Already proud of the completing of her weapons, Ara beamed under her helmet as she saw everyone fighting better than before with them. Finally, when only a few nators were left, the group turned their attention to the monster.

"Nators are nothing and so are you!" Sean called out. "Ara, are your weapons like other power weapons? Can we combine them?"  
"We could.." Ara said uneasily.

"Great! Then let's do it!" Tamara offered. The group got together and assembled it according to Ara's instructions, which weren't too hard. They combined within seconds and aimed as best they could, balancing it between the group. When it was done, it looked like any other ranger power weapons and Ara could tell they looked just as cheesey as the TV show.

"Ready.. Aim... Fire!" Ara commanded. They each pulled the trigger on their own weapons and an unusually large blast shot from the mouth of Ara's staff. All the energy that had been stored in each of the weapons had come together in one centeralized area and shot at once to the monster. They were pushed back a little from the might, but no ranger cared. They watched in horror as the blast traveled quickly down the road to the monster, tearing up the street, tearing down the school, bending trees to the side which were over 10 yards away and taking out abandoned cars, trucks, and bikes, along with the monster. The weapons was as effective as it was devistating. The monster was no where in sight, and people who had been evacuated to underground safe spots came out unharmed and cheered. The rangers ignored the cheers, and all eyes just looked at Ara.

"Are you crazy?" Sean finally accused.

"I told you it wasn't tested," Ara said timidly.

"Yeah, but you let us use it anyway. What if someone was still there?" Sean asked.

"Hey, this was more Sidira's idea than mine. I warned you we could end up screwing ourselves more than the monster!" Ara defended.

"Enough. It's fine. We destroyed the monster and no one was hurt. Let's go home," Jared stated.

"No, it's not fine! We better not do something like that again, got it?" Sean continued.

"Don't worry. Now that we know what could happen, I don't think we'll combine the weapons again unless we have to," Ara tried.

"No, we better not even use them separately again!" Sean stated.

"We can't just avoid using them in general. They were really helpful!" Tamara defended.

"Then you can use them, cause I'm not!" Sean stated.

"That's what you say now," Tamara answered.

"Forget you people. I'm goin' home!" Sean teleported before anyone could answer.

"Think he'll be ok?" Ara asked Jared.

"I'm sure he will. He's just being stubborn," Jared said assuringly.

"Hope so. As wrong as it may have come out, he has a point. We can't combine the weapons again; it my was fault to make them so powerful," Ara admitted.

"But it also really helped. We would be drowning under a sea of nators if you hadn't made those weapons in time," Kari tried.

"I guess," Ara said slowly.

"Let's go home. No way people are going back to school after that," Tamara offered.

"Yeah, ok, later guys," Ara waved and watched as everyone teleported home. She looked back at all the destruction and teleported away as she saw reporters running to her. She was tired, but she wasn't going to be caught by the papers and have to try and explain how an entire highschool got demolished.


	7. Mellow Yellow

Disclaimer: Again, I don't own Power Rangers or anything affiliated to it.

Hey! This time from Tamara's view. It's just a cute little filler and a possible romance. Hope you all enjoy! Kai

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Yellow. Everything was yellow now-a-days. Her clothes, her highlighters; she even got a yellow emo-looking casing for her i-pod. Yellow was never her favorite color, but being the yellow ranger, Tamara decided she ought to fit the part. She dressed in her daily attire of dark jeans, and a yellow t-shirt with some decoration. She crimped her dishwater blond hair and tied it back with a black hair-tie and added her new, but muddy, yellow and white gymshoes.

She'd watched power rangers as a little girl and remembered the yellow ranger always had something yellow on and was very good at martial arts. Whether Ara's plan was to make her the next Trini by learning martial arts, or if it was merely a coinsedince, Tamara wasn't sure, but she was glad none-the-less to be learning. Due to the majority of the school being destroyed thanks to Ara's weapon, school was cancled for the rest of the week. Tamara packed a lunch and rode her bike the next day near the school, hoping to catch a glimpse. Tamara was dissappointed to find it was still being littered with reporters trying to catch an old exclusive. Tamara decided to stay away until the school re-opened, and continued to the park to practice. She'd borrowed books, movies, and tapes on different types of martial arts. Today she'd practice Kung Fu and Tai chi. She warmed up with a few jumping jacks, a small jog, and stretches of various kinds. Then she worked on breathing exercises, and slow motion moves. These turned into quick, fierce, hand strikes and kicks. After a bit, she settled down for lunch and went back to work. The second half of her day consisted of trying to reverse her healing energy so anytime she wanted she could have acidic hands that burned through anything she wanted.

As she was into her fourth hour since she began, nators and a monster appeared. She looked around but kept her cool. No one was there to witness if she morphed, so she began her attack. She charged each nator and took them out quickly with what she'd learned.

"Only one? How sad," the monster said with a smile.

"Only one is needed to beat you!" Tamara stated confidently. She went after the monster and began using her Tai Chi moves in a swift manner and combined the moves with her acid hands. As her position bettered in the battle, the mosnter summoned more nators to come and distract Tamara. The nators attacked and soon overwhelmed her. Tamara looked around once again to make sure the coast was clear, then called "Healer!" and morphed in the yellow ranger. As much as she disliked the monsters and nators, she loved the feeling of the power coursing through her. She made fists and attacked the nators, gaining an upper hand on the monster once again.

"Don't think you can beat me that easily!" he said with an angry voice. He made a strange swiping motion with his hands and arms and Tamara felt his power grow. He charged her and she saw he was much quicker than before and when he punched, she felt the improvement of his strength. After being thrown back for the third time, Tamara decided it was time to call for back up. She took out her morpher, but didn't realize she was still too close to the nators. A nator kicked the morpher from her hand and continued to attack. _Darn it! _she cursed to herself. She tried to reach for her morpher to call for help, but the nators defended it well. Finally Tamara was too far away and the monster picked it up.

"That's mine! Give it back!" she demanded. She was more than willing to charge the monster in an effort to get it back but her legs wouldn't allow it.

"I don't think so. Sacul will reward me handsomely for a prize such as this little beauty!" the monster responded happily.

"Not today, he won't!" a voice shouted. Tamara turned just in time to watch a green blur move in quickly and snatch the morpher from the monster's hand, all within a blink of an eye. All heads, including the nators', turned to the blur who Tamara was relieved to see was Sean standing a few yards to her left side. She watched him transform from a full cheetah to a full human and tauntingly wave the morpher. "Lookin for something?" he asked with a sly smile. Tamara smiled as she saw the monster frown.

"Hey, I stole that fair and square! I demand you return my mopher!" he commanded.

"And I demand all the gummy worms in the world be mine. That doesn't mean I'll get them," Sean laughed.

"Over here!" Tamara called with arms wide open for her morpher ready to catch if he ended up throwing it. Sean ran over and handed it to her with a smile. "Thanks, how'd you know I needed help?" she asked relieved he didn't toss it.

"No problem. I was talkin to a friend on AIM and they were talkin about a yellow ranger in trouble," he said keeping the smile.

"You mean someone saw me?" she asked a little alarmed.

"Don't worry, they only saw the yellow ranger fly into a car, then go back to fight,"

"He's not that tough, I had him for a bit, but with you and the others here I know we'll finish him for sure!" Tamara said confidently.

"Yeah, about that. I don't mind if we call Kari and Jared, but don't call Ara," his smile started to fade, as did Tamara's.

"What? Why not?" she asked logically.

"I don't want her to come. We don't need her, or her stupid weapons," he stated stubbornly.

"You mean you're still on about that. Look, I agree, they weren't the best idea she's ever had, but they did help," Tamara tried.

"We didn't need them," Sean stated. Tamara could tell it was a lost cause and gave in with a shrug.

"Excuse me, I'm still here, wreaking havoc!" the monster suddenly called sounding quite annoyed. He threw his sword into an empty car, not letting go, and withdrew it to make sparks fly to show his aggravation.

"Fine, we won't call Ara. Maybe you and I can finish him on our own," Tamara tried.

"You bet!" Sean said in a pleased tone. "Transformer!" he called to morph. "Ok monster, now you've got two of us to deal with!"

"No problem. I'll take care of you both and then Sacul will be very pleased!" The monster charged the two with nators following dutifully behind. Tamara went back to taking out nators while Sean went after the monster. Tamara was right. With Sean's help the monster was destroyed in a timely fashion and the nators dissappeared. Sean finished him with Tamara as they aimed and shot their pistols multiple times after using their special attacks. Tamara used her acid hands and Sean made a Wolly-Mammoth charge and attack with his tusks.

"I see you've been practicing," she commented when they powered down. The area was deserted so she wasn't afraid of being seen.

"So have you," he answered when he demorphed.

"Yeah well, we did miss yesterday's training day, and I have nothing else goin' on today.." she started.

"Me neither. So.. uh.. wanna go grab a burger or something," he asked suddenly.

"You serious?" she asked trying to mask her disbelief.

"Well sure, but you know. If you're busy, I totally understand," Sean said shyly.

"Well, I've already had lunch.. but I could go for some ice cream," Tamara gave a wink and the two got on their bikes and peddled to the nearest Baskin Robins.


	8. Mixed up Minds

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers or anything affiliated to it.

Ok, now we're getting somewhere! This leads into the several chapters I've been working on for ages! Seriously, next chapter is a better one. Enjoy none-the-less.

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The scene replayed in her mind over and over. They fired the Souregnad Blaster, the street was torn up, the school came tumbling down with a huge rumble. It'd been five days, and two monster attacks since, but she still felt responsible. Ara watched replays in her mind of the monster dissolving into nothing. "My fault," she kept whispering under her breath. _It's my fault our school is totaled, my fault the street is useless, all my fault.._ She tossed through the nights and woke with her head in the direction where her feet started and her feet where her head started. She had slept in late this morning, but still felt tired when she woke.

Since school was still cancled, she went to the park to train. For the past four days, Ara trained by making more fake nators, quicker each time, but today was different. She decided to go back to basics. She didn't bother trying to use the wind currents to fly again, but she did work on levitating things with her wind power as well as work on growing and burning more things and dousing with them with water. She made sure to burn only in the sand and wouldn't levitate anything too big if she wasn't sure how to put it back. By noon she was tired and decided to head to a local McDonalds for a quick lunch break. She jogged, as she'd tried to do every day to make up for Monday's missed training, and got only a salad and lemonade when she arrived. She ate quickly, but just as she was about to leave, Kari came in. It was the first time in days she'd even seen one of her teammates outside battle; they all still seemed mad at her for making them use the Souregnad weapons. Ara stayed and talked with Kari as she waited in line, and with nothing else to do that day, she decided to stay longer as Kari ate.

"Do you think I was wrong to make those weapons?" Ara asked when Kari finished her meal.

"What do you mean?" Kari asked avoidingly.

"I mean, the Souregnad weapons. Was I wrong to make them? So many people could have gotten hurt, and everything's ruined thanks to me," Ara said quietly, more to herself then Kari.

"Not everything. Just a block or two. You weren't wrong for making them, you were right for making them. Sean's just.. like you said, stubborn. He'll get over it," Kari said assuringly.

"I hope you're right. I don't know what would happen if we ended up hurting people,"

"It wouldn't be on purpose, and Tamara and I could always heal them,"

"Yeah, I guess. How are your powers coming? Indivisually I mean," Ara asked calmly.

"Not bad. I healed my kitty in a few seconds, yesterday, when Nick stepped on his tail," Kari said proudly.

"Heh, remind me to thank him next time I see him; that cat deserves it! He's the devil," Ara stated with a smile.

"_She_ is not," Kari said hotly.

"Whatever," Ara giggled. The two happily chatted about planned school activities, until a monster showed up. Ara looked at Kari for only a second before the two ran out of the restraunt and headed for the danger. She found a place to hide as they morphed.

"Healer!" Kari called.

"Elemental!" Ara called. Then the two went out into the panicked streets to face the monster.

"Ah, Power Rangers! So good of you to show up!" he said with a smile.

"Couldn't miss the party!" Ara said confidently. Kari started attacking the nators while Ara went after the monster. She did fair against him, taking care to leave her Souregnad weapon as a last resort. She used a fire blaze with a wind gust and created a firestorm against the monster. Ara took brief glances to Kari who wasn't doing so well herself. Ara watched as Kari kept getting overwhelmed, but also kept her ground, and Ara knew she couldn't keep it up forever. Ara stood back a moment as she eyed the monster carefully. "Hey, we could use some help, by Micky-D's" Ara said urgently into her morpher.

"On our way!" Sean responded happily. Ara charged the monster again, giving a heavy flying side kick to his chest. Ara watched him stumble a little, but they both knew he wasn't finished yet. Ara watched with unease as he powered up and sent a huge blast to Ara. She flew back only a few feet, sparks flying from her stomach, making her fall to the ground hard. She stayed lying where she was for a few seconds, trying to catch her breath, when Kari came over with the others following right behind.

"Ara, are you ok?" Kari asked.

"I think so," Ara said carefully sitting herself up. Kari stood over her and joined a hand with Tamara as they quickly healed her. "Thanks," she said as she stood up quickly.

"No problem, now let's get him," Tamara said confidently.

"Are the nators gone?" Ara asked no one in particular.

"Not yet.We just thought saving your life was more important," Sean said semi-sarcastically.

"So is that a yes or a no?" Ara asked seriously.

"That's a yes," Tamara answered. "We finished them off ages ago,"

"Good to know. This guy's strong, but I've been thinking about what you said, Sean," Ara stated.

"Oh?" Sean asked.

"You're pretty much right. We can't use the Souregnad weapons unless it's a last resort. Only when we've got absolutely nothing else should we use them," Ara explained thoughtfully.

"Nice to know you're starting to see it my way. Now, what do we do about this monster?" Sean asked.

" 'Fraid I don't really know. I can't seem to find a weakness," Ara scowled under her helmet.

"Well there's gotta be one. Maybe in his armor or something," Kari offered.

"Maybe, but I have no idea where," Ara inputed.

"Let's just attack and maybe we'll find one. Five heads are better than one," Tamara offered.

"No doubt," Kari exclaimed. Everyone acted quickly and surrounded the monster. Kari and Tamara attacked first, each coming from opposite ends. When the monster jumped, Jared and Sean jumped and a battle in the air took place. Ara, Kari and Tamara watched as the boys were beaten and fell to the ground within seconds.

"You three are next!" The monster said as he landed and turned to the group.

"Hold it right there!" a voice suddenly called. Everyone looked up in the direction of the voice. Someone, dressed in a silver uniform, similar to theirs, was standing on a small pile of rubble a few meters away.

"And just who are you?!" the monster asked seemingly annoyed.

"Silver Ranger, at your service!" he called.


	9. Enter! Silver Ranger Part 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers or anything affiliated to it. I also don't own the character Matt. I use him a lot, but the character is based off my brother Matt, and thus credit is given where it's due.

Ok, part 1 of the.. 3 part chapters.. yeah, I think you get it. Anyways, this is only the first part. Plenty more to come! And we would like to welcome Matt, the Silver Ranger. Yay! Welcome to the story! I haven't said it in a while, so I'll mention it here: I don't care if you R/R, just don't be mad if it gets lamer and lamer. No one's forcing you to read but commenting does help my writing.. as well as help give me an inflated head. Hope you enjoy! Kai

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"Aya!" The silver ranger jumped into action, with a flying side kick to the monster followed by four power blasts from his gun in just the right spots. As the monster fell back in cowardice, he realized his position in the battle and fled.

"No, I don't wanna die yet!" he yelled as he disappeared into his world.

"Just like 'em," the silver ranger mumbled to himself. Ara stepped forward as the others lined up behind her to see who this new ranger was.

"Thanks for the help, I guess. We had it covered, ya know,"

"Right..." the silver ranger answered with sarcasm.

"If you don't mind, who are you?"

"If I wanted you to know that, I'd be wearing a see-though helmet, wouldn't I?"

"Not necessarily,"

"A witty one, aren't you?" he asked annoyed.

"Mysterious one, aren't you?" she retorted.

"Ooo, two rangers dukin' it out. I bet she likes him," Sean joked to Jared.

"Shut up," Ara said carelessly to Sean. Though she was annoyed with Sean, she never took her eyes off the silver ranger. She stared intently, as if her eyes could pierce the helmet's visor to get just a glimpse of the supposed ally. "Alright, so you don't wanna tell us who you are. If we do happen to run into some trouble, will you be back?"

"Of course. It's my job,"

"Good, then I guess we'll see you again,"

"I guess so," No one moved.

"Rangers, let's go home. Nothin' more we can do now," Ara stated. Everyone nodded and Sidira teleported the group to their respective homes, leaving the silver ranger alone. That night, Ara thought long and hard of the mysterious ranger. Who could he be? How'd he get his power? His uniform certainly wasn't like theirs, but in the same way, it did have similar elements. She just couldn't understand it. The next day was saturday and she had nothing planned, so she went online. It was good to get back to her passion, computers and writing. She signed onto her aim and found her friend on who also happened to be a loyal fan of Power Rangers.

_Hey Matt._ she greeted.

_Hey Ara. You wouldn't believe it! The most amazing happened to me! _ He typed back.

_Oh? Try me._

_Ok, I'm a power ranger!_ the words appeared quickly and all Ara could do was stare into the digitized screen.

_No way._ she finally typed.

_Yes way! It's awsome! I'm the Silver Ranger and I gotta say, it's incredible. I totally sent a monster packing when the other rangers couldn't._

_Do the other rangers know you?_ she asked.

_Nope! That's the beauty! I'm gonna be a total mystery to them and I'm not gonna reveal myself until the end!_

"A mystery huh?" Ara asked herself sarcastically. "Yeah, right," _That's really cool. How'd you get the power?_ she typed back. She waited a minute, staring at the bar that said he was typing.

_It was really wierd. I was watching power rangers last night and suddenly, a woman came on the screen, and she wasn't a power rangers character. Then she asked 'Do you want to be a power ranger?' and I was just totally freaking out, but I'm like, 'Heck yea!' and she's all like 'Alright then, welcome Matt, to the real world of power rangers' and I'm teleported to this place kinda like the command center in mighty morphin power rangers. She explained to me that the rangers needed help and that I could help them by being the silver ranger. I swore to fight for good and stuff and I got the power. I have a sword like Tommy's green ranger dagger instead of a rinky-dink pistol like the others. It's so cool!_

Ara read the passage in shock. This was her mysterious silver ranger. For some reason, Sidira thought they needed help, so she brought in this guy to be their knight in silver armor. She was partially angry, partially relieved and yet, partially curious. _Why him? _Besides his passion for power rangers, why her internet brother Matt? Was it fate she met him? Was it fate all the rangers had some occult power? Or was it simply all Sidira's choosing to be picky about who her rangers were?

_Hey, I'm only here to check my mail, so I'm gonna go now. I'll talk to you later. And congradulations._ she typed.

_Alright, thanks, bye_. She signed off aim, but looked up information on extra rangers. She wanted to know even more on the new rangers so she could know more on Matt's abilities. The next day school resumed and the group met in the morning before class, each one distressed about this new ranger.

"Who does this new guy think he is?!" Sean raged as he paced.

"Yeah and why's he being so mysterious?" Tamara continued.

"Because he thinks it's a game," Ara smiled as she thought of her conversation last night.

"You know him, don't you?" Jared asked calmly.

"Well..." Ara began.  
"You do?!" Kari asked surprised.

"Who is it? I'll kill him! We don't need another ranger!" Sean exclaimed.

"Chill, there's gonna be no human lives taken, just monster lives. His name's Matt and he's actually a friend of mine," Ara said with a smile.

"Oh? Some friend," Sean said bitterly.

"Yeah, he is some friend. He saved our rat hides," Ara defended.

"Speak for yourself, the rest of us were doing just fine," Sean continued.

"Yes, getting yourself tossed in a pile of trash next to me was all part of your plan," Ara stated sarcastically.

"So this Matt guy knows who we are, right?" Tamara asked patiently.

"Actually, no. I was a bit too shocked to think of telling him I got my red ranger power before him. You see, he's a fellow ranger fan and always placed himself as a red or silver slash white slash gold ranger when we talked,"

"So what do we do now that we know who he is, even though he doesn't know who we are?" Kari asked.

"I guess we just play it cool. I mean, Sidira knows who he is, she's the one who sent him to us and recruited him for us. If she thought we needed the help, then we probably did. I say we go talk to Sidira," Ara suggested.

"Good enough for me, let's see what she has to say," Tamara supported. The others nodded silently just as the bell rang and each departed for class. The day was thankfully uneventful and after school they gathered downstairs in the remote area of the fitness center. No one noticed their presence and so no one noticed when they teleported to the command center.

"Oh Sidira.. you neglected to mention a minor detail or two," Ara chided as the group settled in.

"Oh? What would that be rangers?" Sidira asked calmly.

"That Matt is our mysteious silver ranger," Tamara answered.

"Oh, well, I didn't see a need to reveal him right away, besides, he asked me to not tell," Sidira said sheepishly.

"Also that you're the one who gave him his power," Ara conintued. The group looked at Ara as she spoke.

"Well this is new, you didn't tell us that," Sean started.

"Sean, please, now's not the time," Ara put up one hand to calm him before continuing. "He told me everything, but he doesn't know who we are, so since you're so keen on keeping secretes, I gotta ask you to keep us a secret. No matter how much you talk to him, don't give him our identities,"

"Very well, but why?" Sidira questioned innocently.

"Too keep it fair, that's why!" Sean burst out. When he was mad, his hands started to transform into a human-minded werewolf without his knowledge. This moment was no different and his hands began to morph into claws and a tale started to sprout.

"Also because so far as he knows, we don't know him and he doesn't know us, or else he would've said something to me. For now, I think it's best we keep it like that," Ara explained calm and logically.

"Very well, then I suggest you morph or make yourselves scarce, because Matt is about to arrive," Sidira stated. Everyone began to panick, even Ara.

"Come on, we can't hide, so we gotta morph," Tamara finally concluded. Everyone nodded in agreement and morphed just in time. The silver ranger teleported in the center of the command center and looked around to be surrounded by rangers.

"Sidira, I told you to warn me if anyone else was gonna be here," the silver ranger complained.

"My appologies, they did not warn me they were coming. I would have foretold you,"

"Whatever. I am the silver ranger, your precious Sidira asked for my help. I hope you don't hate me," the silver ranger greeted with a hint of sarcasm. Everyone was silent for a few seconds before turning their eyes to Ara to see what she would say.

"I am the red ranger, leader of this team. I'll ask you again, who are you?" Ara asked calm but curious.

"I just told you, red ranger, I am the silver ranger," the silver ranger repeated.

"You told me what you are; your status in this branch of the ranger family, but you haven't told me _who_ you are. I'll give you as many chances as it takes. Who are you?" Ara asked again calmly.

"Hmph, give me as many chances as you want, I'm not going to tell you who I really am," the silver ranger stated stubbornly.

"Fine, then you leave me the very fustrating task of audio matching. I'll just take your recorded voice and match it to everyone who's a posibility. Let's see, you're about 5-three, five-five, arogant male for sure, and definately North American, probably a northern accent there.." Ara thought outloud and with a smile beneath the helmet. She was confident she had the silver ranger stammering to wonder how she could figure all this out. It was true, she had never really met her friend Matt in person, merely conversing on the internet, and so to hear him speak and see as much as he was allowing, she did make decent educated guesses as to his real life details.

"I'll admit, your good, but you'll never find out who I really am," the silver ranger stated. "Sidira, I'll talk to you another time and as for you rangers, I'll see you when you need me to save you again,"

"Hmph, then that'll be a long time buddy!" Sean argued. His hands were fully claw shaped by now, his tail was out and clear and the rest of his body was obviously starting to change into a wolf shape without his knowledge. Jared went over and put a hand on Sean's shoulder without a word and Sean's legs began to revert to human form. The silver ranger left and the group demorphed. "I don't like him,"

"Yeah, he is being a prick right now, but he can be nice. He's just trying to be ultra mysterioso right now. Trust me, he's definately a good guy," Ara said with a smug smile.

"I have no doubt he's a good guy, but like you said, he's being a real prick," Tamara inputed. Suddenly a siren sounded and everyone looked at the plasma screen. Another monster was attacking the city with nators closing in on the civilians.

"Come on, we can't be bothered with Matt right now, let's just do our job," Ara said tiredly. The group teleported to the monster and attacked with ferocity. Each ranger was determined to show the silver ranger they didn't need him, and almost succeded. The monster was down for the count, but then a second creature appeared, which Ara knew to be Sacul: Master Rexus's leading general.

"You are very dissappointing, but not useless," He commented as he looked at the monster. He put a hand over the monster's chest and Ara could feel the monster's strength grow. She glanced to the others and saw them shiver a little and she knew they had the same feeling she had. "Rangers, you may have defeated Greckior in his weakend state, but now you shall fall to the might of the real Greckior!" with that, the creature left, making the rangers worried and most of all confused.

"Ara, what just happened?" Tamara asked.

"something very bad.." she mumbled back. The monster grew a few inches, but other than that his outward appearence was the same. "Guys, I'll assume you felt it as much as me. Don't underestimate him. We gotta hit him with all we got,"

"All we got isn't much now," Sean reminded.

"I realize that, but we gotta try. Let's use the Suoregnad Weapons,"

"Are you nuts? Last time we used those we took out the monster plus the rest of the block," Kari pointed out.

"I don't know about you guys, but I don't want him to grow any more than he has. No one's here except us, so I don't see a huge danger,"

"Fine, we'll try it. But no one better get hurt," Sean said stubbornly. The group called for 5 colorful, weapons, combined immediately, aimed and fired them all at once. As the blast was fired, Ara saw a little boy standing right behind the monster. He held a bat and was ready to attack, but fear held him still. Ara ran as fast as she could after the blast but was forced to fly back on the wind as the impact of the blast hit the monster.

"Nine!" she shouted more to herself than anyone. As the smoke cleared Ara looked and saw only the bat remained smoking. _No that boy! What did we do? What did I do? Oh man..._ As she walked back to the others with her head down, she made a swift glance up and saw the horror behind the others' helmets. No one said a word, until a gasp came from Kari. Ara couldn't tell if it was a a good gasp or a bad one, but she forced herself to turn anyway. Just as she made a full 360 degree turn she saw a sight that nearly made her cry out of sheer joy. The silver ranger was there, with the boy right behind him, holding onto his leg. The silver ranger went and picked up the bat, then as he went back and made it stop smoking, gave it to the boy with a kind gesture who then ran off towards, what Ara assumed was, home. Ara walked silently to the silver ranger with the others following close behind. "Thank you, for saving the boy," she said softly.

"You should be more careful with ranger weapons. They may be able to destroy monsters, but also people,"

"He shouldn't have been there," Ara started. She was going to blame the boy, but that would be wrong and the butterflies in her stomach told her so. "But I didn't see him. I sanctioned the useage of the weapon and I accept responsibility for endangering him. Thank you for saving him," she said with a bowed head. She found the words were hard enough to get out, but the butterflies went away.

"You're welcome. Like I said, this is my job. I take it seriously," he stated. He turned to leave, but Ara put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. As he turned, she questioned wether she'd gone too far and took her hand off him.

"You know, we were gonna go grab something from McDonalds. Wanna come?" she asked nervously.

"We were?" Sean whispered to Tamara. Tamara knocked him gently in the ribs as sign that he should be quiet.

"No thanks. People would stare," The silver ranger said solomnly.

"Not necessarily. It would require you to demorph but.." Ara tried.

"Exactly. Thanks, but not this time," he said. With that, the silver ranger teleported home, leaving Ara with 4 eyes on her.

"So what was that about no one's gonna get hurt?"

"Not now," Ara said tiredly.

"No, now! We could've killed that kid! That silver ranger must be your friend, or else you oughta make friends with him real soon so he can save your butt again!"

"Chill, I know I'm gonna hear about this from him tonight,"

"Yeah, you better," Sean grumbled. The group demorphed and teleported home, only making Ara more confused. Her parents asked where she had been and wether she wanted dinner, but Ara dismissively said she had been at school and ate dinner there. She then went online to get the fated conversation over with.

_OMG You totally missed it!_ Matt typed when she got on.

_Someone's obviously happy.. What's up?_ she typed back.

_I totally saved this kid!_

_Really? Cool._

_Yeah! I saw and heard the whole thing. The red ranger used this really powerful weapon and wasn't looking, cause this little kid was still there. The kid was gonna hit the monster for attacking his home, but when he saw the weapon he froze. The rangers totally didn't see him, but when the red ranger did finally see him he ran to try and save the kid._

_Luck you were there._

_Yeah, totally. I hope he's ok._

_Who the kid? If you saved him then I bet he is._

_No the red ranger. _

_Whatcha talkin about?_

_The red ranger got a bit of the blast cause he was running so close and flew back. It was cool, but painful._ Ara rubbed her shoulder, remembering she did get hit. It wasn't bad because she'd entirely forgotten it as she dreaded the conversation that was turning out to be not as bad as she thought. She'd be sore for a little while, but nothing she couldn't live normally with.

_Don't worry, I bet he's fine._

_Hey something I gotta ask. You're the only one who knows I'm the silver ranger, so I can only ask you. The red ranger asked if I would go to McDonalds with him and the team after the monster attack. I said no, but I don't know. Maybe I should've gone. It would be nice to meet them. And less of a challenge to hide my identity from them._

_Lol. Well, it's up to you._

_Ya know.. I just realized something. You live in Lexington._

_Lol. Yes I do. You know that._

_No, you live in _Lexington_. That's where a lot of the ranger battles have happened._

_Yes, it is._

_So you must know the Power Rangers._ "Oh man.." she mumbled to herself.

_Nope, sorry. I've seen them once or twice, and school's cancled from the monster fighting, but that's about all the ranger encounters I've had so far. _"Ha! Now that's a down right lie," she laughed to herself.

_Next time you see them, see if you see me._

_Uhm, ok. Sure thing._

_That'd be so cool!_

_Not if you want me to keep you identity._

_You wouldn't. Come on Ara.._

_Don't worry. I'm just kidding.. sort of._

_What do you mean? _She paused and thought of a way to explain. She had to be in third person now, acting as if she was just another citizen, but this wasn't much of a challenge for her. The only question was how to spin it.

_Well, think about it. If the rangers stay in Lexington and I come up and I'm all like, I know you! Then they might want to keep meeting me to see if I rat you out or something._

_You wouldn't. Would you?_

_Well no, not on purpose. Not unless it was really necessary, like the fate of the world or something._

_Well, ok. I guess I'd understand if it was important for something like that. But please, don't tell them._

_No worries, I won't tell the Power Rangers who you are until you tell them yourself._

_Thanks. I knew you'd understand. _"More than you think... Man, another lie," she said to herself. _So you wanna roleplay?_ he typed after a while.

_Seriously? Don't you get enough action from real life?_ she asked truthfully.

_Well, yes... but roleplaying would give me a good simulation of a battle. I wanna be ready to keep being all cool and helping the rangers._

_Lol, ok, I guess._ Ara typed with a smile. As much action as she did get from real life, her internet brother was right. Roleplaying was a good way to see how different scenarios would play out. They played out different scenarios, mainly with extremely tough monsters and dozens of nators that would most likely outnumber and possibly defeat the rangers were it real life. By the end, Ara was sure she'd thought of every possible battle scenario and even Matt couldn't think of more by the next time they talked. Ara signed off and went to bed, imagining all the scenarios she'd gone through with Matt and whether or not he'd use the knowledge they both gained in the next battle.


	10. Silver Sensations Silver Ranger Part 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers or anything affiliated to it! I just love writing fanfics..

Hey! So again, I'm in a guy's perspective, hope I don't ruin his manly reputation, if I do well.. sorry but get over it. Anyway, Happy Reading everyone! -Kai

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Matt turned on the computer and read yesterday's conversation with his internet sister, Ara. He was the proud Silver Power Ranger and she was the only one in the world who knew. Once again, he silently thanked Sidira for the power and tried to imagine the scenario battle he had with her. In the roleplay they had done, he was the silver ranger, she was the red, and they made up characters who were the green, yellow, and pink rangers. They played out the battle with a cyclops monster who teamed up with the Psycho Rangers from the tv series, and met Andros and it all went fiction from there. He wasn't angry that it had gone so unrealistic, but fantasy wouldn't help him in real life battles. He wished he could meet her. They'd only known eachother on the internet, and even though they'd shared their lives, posted pictures and voice chatted, there was still a small doubt she was real. After all, anyone could be whoever they wanted on the internet. If he could just see her face in real life, even if it was for only a second.. _That's it, I can scry her! Why didn't I think of this before?_ he exclaimed to himself.

He got a glass bowl and poured cool water into it, then went into his room and locked his door. He still had his secretes, just as he was sure she did. He closed his blinds on the windows, lit candles, said a small incantation, and concentrated as hard as he could. _Ara Kairel. Ara Kairel. Ara Kairel. _he thought to himself. If she was who she said she was, then he'd see her face and it'd match the photos she'd sent him. After a few minutes of silent concentration, a face showed up in the water. It was small, rounded, with rosey-red cheecks, and pitch- black eyes he could never forget. It was Ara. He smiled as he saw her silently laugh and avert her gaze to something else. He didn't bother to investigate who or what she was looking at or why she laughed. He said a second incantation and the picture faded. He blew out the candles, opened the blinds, poured out the water and put the bowl away. He was a psychic; a strong one that could do anything if he put his mind to it. Finding Ara would have been difficult and tiring for an amatuer, but he didnt have any trouble. He went back on the computer, with hope that he'd meet her some day soon and in person. He looked on the internet for any mention of the power rangers and when he did find them, he looked for himself. He wondered if his heroic rescue of the little boy made it in the papers. To his dismay, the papers hardly mentioned him. The most he saw was a headline entitled "Silver Friend or Silver Foe?" which was about his sudden appearence. His disappointment didn't last long, fore Matt soon cheered up when he saw Ara come on.

_Hey! What's up Matt?_ she instant messaged him.

_Hey, nuttin. Lookin for any mentioning of me in the papers._ Matt typed back.

_lol. u or silver ranger u? ;-P_

_Silver ranger me._

_hm.. well, sorry. nuttin too special here in the Lexington Times, just the usual ranger coverage._

_it's ok. So, what are you doing next week? _He was moving. He neglected to tell Ara of his move to Lexington until a few days before. His mom was a reporter and the action was there, so she'd applied for a job and started the coming weekend. He wasn't thrilled, but at least the hope grew that he would meet her in person.

_Uhm, besides running from the monster attacks? I don't know. Why?_ she typed back.

_I might be coming to see you._ he tried. "Not quite the truth, but close enough," he commented out loud.

_Oh? That's so cool! When?_ "Cool? Not really cool," he heard himself say.

_Uh, next week._

_OMG this is gonna be so great! We can go to the park, the mall, the lake, everywhere! dude, I gtg plan! Later brother!_

_lol, ok. bye._ Ara signed off leaving Matt to smile to himself. He'd made her smile and that was good enough for him. He went to his room and watched Mighty Morphin Power Ranger reruns. Today he watched the episodes where Tommy was introduced. "Yeah, go Tommy!" he cheered. His mom came home from work and they enjoyed K.F.C. chicken for dinner with mashed potatoes and gravey and some supposedly fresh rolls. Matt made his usual special: a valcanoe of mashed potatoes with lava gravey and chicken legs to support the sides. His mom made disapproving looks as he finished his masterpiece, but he paid no mind and happily ate his creation. Afterward he went back to his Power Ranger episodes and later to bed.

The next day he went to school as he did every Wednesday. He mostly thought of his new Silver Ranger power and tried to imagine what the other rangers were up to. Were they stuck in class too, just like him? Were they taking down another monster? Were they out of school and in college now? _Who knows.._ he concluded. After school he went home and finished any homework he had neglected to finish in school and went straight onto the computer. Ara wasn't on. He played a game called Slingo as he waited a bit longer and ended up signing off early that evening. He sighed as he waited for a call from Sidira saying the Power Rangers needed him. He looked at the clock and sighed again. _Ten more minutes and mom's home. Not much to do in the mean time_. he thought to himself. He went to his room and concluded to watch more Power Rangers. He studied one of his Power Ranger heros in action, as they jump kicked and showed off in a martial arts competition. Tommy Oliver was without a doubt the best Power Ranger he could think of. He copied the moves as best he could and imagined what Ara would say when she saw him defending her against nators with Tommy's moves.

"Oh Matt! You're so cool!" he could hear her say in his head. "Where'd you learn such awsome moves?!" his fake Ara asked in amazement.

"Training myself and working hard to be the best. That's all it really took!" he imagined himself saying proudly. Without realizing it, he started kicking and punching the air. He imagined himself knocking down nators and eventually taking out the monster, then having the other rangers come to him with praise.

"Matt, I'm home, and I've got groceries!" his mom suddenly called. Matt snapped back to reality and froze for a second. He looked to make sure he hadn't broken anything while in his little fantasy and went to help his mom.

"What'd you get groceries for? We're gone in two days," he asked logically.

"Yes, I know, but I thought you'd like a snack for the ride and we're running out of pop. Don't worry, it's just a few things I thought we could use," his mom answered. Matt shrugged and helped his mother put everything away before the two settled down for dinner. Tonight's dinner was a simple microwaveable TV dinner for each. Afterward Matt snacked on some potatoe chips his mom had bought that day and began packing. In two days they were gone and in two days he'd get to meet Ara. He packed a bunch of clothes, CDs, DVDs, and a majority of his Power Ranger tapes. He'd left in an open box the things he'd need every day such as his calogne, comb, a few sets of clothes, his school things, and the majority of his Mighty Morphin Power Rangers season two tapes. Everything else he packed away and set aside, ready for the big move. He took a small scan of his former room. It was different from what he was used to. It was white and quite spaceous looking asside from the stacks of boxes. The only recognizeable thing in his room now, was his bed.

The next two days went about the same. He went to school, watched Power Rangers and uselessly waited for a call from Sidira. On moving day, Matt and his mother helped gather their things into moving van and took off for their new home in Lexington. The trip was long and they stopped at four different McDonalds and a Wendy's for rest-stops on the way. It was the afternoon when they arrived, but Matt was pleased all the same. He saw some constructions zones and quite a few squad cars, but for the most part a decent looking city. As they pulled into the driveway, Matt got out excitedly.

"Well, this is it. I know it's not much, but it'll have to do. Don't worry, when I save up enough we'll get a real house," his mom said. Matt smiled as he looked at it. It wasn't huge, in fact, it looked pretty small on the outside, but that wouldn't bother him.

"Don't worry, mom, it's perfect," he answered happily. They unloaded the van quickly and happily went to work, making the new house their home. The next day Matt's mom had to report to her new work leaving Matt alone to explore the city. He took his bike and started peddling around, trying to get a lay of the land. He found several fast food restraunts, some shopping centers, a beautiful lake, a park buzzing with activity and even the school he'd be going to, Maine North. As he went back to the park a group of nators appeared. "Now this is what I'm talking about!" he said happily. He got off his bike and parked it near a tree before going to fight the nators. He used the moves he'd learned from watching Tommy and took care of most of them, but not before a monster showed up. Many others in the park were busy running and panicking, so Matt went underneath the plastic jungle jim and morphed. He got out and continued trying to attack the monster, but the monster made quick work of him. As he was slammed into the tree next to his bike, five colorful blurs raced into action. They each gave power punches and kicks. As they worked on finishing the monster, more nators appeared. _I'm not helpless._ he stated to himself. He attacked the nators fiercely, doing his best show he was worthy of the power. As the other rangers saw he was being overwhelmed, the green and yellow ranger ran to help him against the nators. With the green and yellow ranger, Matt defeated all the nators and watched as the original group came together and combined their powers to defeat the monster. He stared at each of them for a few seconds before anyone said anything.

"Hey, are you ok?" the black ranger asked. Matt looked at him when he talked, but noticed the red ranger was staring at him.

"I'm ok, thanks.. What are you staring at?" he asked as he looked around. He half expected to see a second monster standing behind him, but when he turned there was no one, so he turned his attention back to the rangers.

"What are you doing here?" the red ranger asked. Matt noticed this time the ranger sounded like a girl, which confused him greatly. He'd always assumed the red ranger was a guy, especially by the sound of his voice.

"What do you mean? I was beating a monster," he said obviously confused.

"No, I mean.. what are you doing here, Matt?" the red ranger continued.

"What? How do you know my name?" he asked. He saw the other rangers were all watching them intently.

"You don't recognize my voice?" the red ranger asked.

"Recognize your voice? I don't know, should I? How do you know my name?" he asked more alarmed.


	11. Revalations Silver Ranger Part 3

Disclaimer: I've said it before, I'll say it again. I don't own Power Rangers or Anything affiliated to it, and the character Matt is based off a good friend of mine.

Hey everyone! Ok, last part in the 3 part saga! hehe. I don't mind comments, they're fun really! I understand if you don't comment though.. and I can't really blame ya.. I hardly comment myself for others, unless it's really good, or really bad. Anyways, enjoy!! -Kai

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Ara took a deep sigh and lifted the clasps on her helmet. "I know your name because... I know you," she said gently as she took off her helmet. Her long hair flowed out and she tucked the helmet underneath her arm.

"Ara? Is it really you?" Matt asked still morphed. He'd seen her pictures, no doubt about that. The face, the attitude, the voice, everything matched now. Ara nodded silently as the others took off their helmets too. "But then.. All this time. You could've told me. I told you but.." He backed away slowly, obviously stunned. Ara took a step forward but didn't move much more.

"You didn't want to tell us, so I wasn't going to press it, but I think this is important. I've thought a bit, and I think if we're going to trust each other enough to save the world, we need to know more about each other. I know tons about you already, but it's only right that you be the one to tell us about yourself. I only revealed your name and that we're friends," Ara explained.

"She's tellin' the truth there. Wouldn't tell us anything. Got pretty annoying," Sean inputed.

"Matt, this is Sean in the green, Kari in the pink, Tamara in the yellow, and Jared in the black. Everyone, this is Matt in the silver,"

"Well obviously," Sean commented. Tamara hit him hard in the stomach with the back of her hand for the comment before stepping forward to extend a hand.

"Nice to meet you. Thanks for all the help lately," she said with a smile. Matt stared at her for a moment, then at the hand she extended. It was an ordinary hand, but he looked at it as if she were giving him a frog; unsure of whether to take it or not.

"I still can't believe you lied to me," he said turning his attention back to Ara. Ara set her helmet underneath her arm and walked forward with a determined look. She wasn't happy he turned down Tamara's hand, but she was determined to try and make him understand.

"I said I wouldn't reveal you unless it was really important. I decided the fate of the planet was important. You said it would be alright," she argued.

"And you said you didn't know the Power Rangers!" he challenged fiercely.

"So apparently we both lied," she said gently.

"No, you lied. I don't care so much that you told who I was. I care that you lied about it," he stated; Ara sighed.

"Come on, brother--"

"No! Don't 'brother' me. I'm going home," he stated. Matt teleported home leaving the others to think and discuss.

"What a dope. He still didn't take off his helmet," Sean commented.

"Not now, Sean," Ara stated fiercely. "I.. I gotta go," Ara demorphed and teleported home questioning whether or not to simply call him. She had his number, that wasn't the question. Wether or not it was too soon, that was her question. She waited an hour, then two. She had dinner with her family, watched power rangers, and went to sleep with Matt still in mind. The next day was thankfully Saturday, and even more thankfully she had nothing to do that day. She went online to try and talk to Matt, but to her dismay he was not on. She heaved a heavy sigh and stayed on while working on homework and playing games. She stayed on all day, but he never signed on. The next day, Ara's family went out, so she went online again, but again he wasn't there. A monster attacked and Ara met the team to the scene and worked as hard as possible to destroy him, but they weren't strong enough. Ara kept leading the attack with the others dutily following. Each time, though, they kept getting pushed back and the power thrown back at them doubled.

"So where's that Silver Ranger when we need him?!" Sean asked angrily.

"I don't know! He said he'd come if he was needed and now, in case he's not getting the message, we need him!" Ara said loudly.

"Rangers, I'm afraid Matt shut off his communicator. I can neither call him, nor teleport him right now,"

"We can actually turn these things off?" Sean asked perplexed.

"Focus Sean! Without Matt we're screwed!" Tamara announced.

"No, we can't be. We gotta rely on our own power," Ara stated.

"With that said shall we assume you have not made amends with the silver ranger?" Jared asked.

"Not you too, Jared. Look, I'm doing my best but sometimes he just needs some time alone to think, sometimes we all do. Now let's go. We're not through!" Ara commanded.

"So what? You want to use the Suoregnad weapons again?! Endanger more lives?" Sean asked semi-sarcastically.

"I wasn't going to suggest that, but since you did, sure, why not?" Ara ended on a sarcastic note that left a bitter taste in her mouth. She hated to say it, but this monster just may require them to use the dangerous weapons.

"Ara, you can't be serious!" Kari exclaimed not hinting the sarcasm.

"Chill, I wasn't entirely serious, but if it comes to that, we will use them,"

"I refuse to use those.. those murderers!" Sean exclaimed.

"They're weapons, they're meant to take out the monsters!" Ara defended.

"So? Are they also meant to kill anything in its path?" Sean continued.

"Yes!! They do that because the monster is supposed to be in the path of the blast! This is reality, wake up. We're real rangers and that's a real monster and our real job right now is to destroy the monster, a.k.a. murder it!" Ara said harshly. No one dared argue again. Her fustration was apparent, and by now the team knew to back off when she was this upset. They took out their pistols and swords and attacked fiercely, but after only a few short minutes of battle they fell back and were forced to demorph. Ara slowly got up as her team mates also struggled to raise themselves.

"You rangers are through. I'll destroy you with one swift blast of my cannon!"

"Guys, I got a bad feeling about this. Let's get outta here, eh?" Ara suggested as she saw the monster's cannon lift and power up.

"With ya there," Tamara announced. Everyone got up as quick as they could without exerting their injuries too much and teleported back to the command center. To Ara's surprise, Matt was there, unmorphed, sitting on a platform and talking with Sidira. At first everyone just stared at each other, not sure of what to say or do. Endurance was running thin in everyone, though, and everyone except Jared had to either sit or lay down. Kari cradled her arm, Tamara held her stomach, Sean checked his knees, Jared inspected his arms, and Ara simply looked at the ground with a fustrated expression in an effort to dull her pain.

Matt looked at them all silently, carefully studying each of their injuries, but as his eyes moved upon Ara, he froze. By not being there when they called, this is what happened. He nearly destroyed the Power Rangers and his internet sister simply because he was angry at her for something so small and dumb it shouldn't have made any difference.

Ara could feel his gaze on her, but unlike any other time, she didn't like it. She still felt guilty for blowing his secret and was about to ask Sidira why he was there when Matt started.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly.

"Me too," Ara said without looking at him.

"Are you ok?" he asked, still focused on her. Sean suddenly got up with a fierce look in his eyes and stepped close to Matt.

"Look at her! You think she's ok?! You know, I don't get it. She always stuck up for you, even if she did tell your dumb little secret. I'll be honest, I never really liked you, but I accepted you because she kept talking about how good you are! I'd like to say 'I can't believe you would do this to her', but right now I'd believe anything!" Sean raged. Again, his tail had formed as well as claws and feet, but his top half was still very human like. Matt simply looked at him with shock, not sure which was more curious: what he had said, or his new appearence.

"And I believe you should shut up," Ara stated through clenched teeth. Everyone looked at her, even Sidira. Ara got up carefully and walked to Sean's side. "Feel better with all that rage out?" she asked him carefully.

"No," he answered shortly.

"Then sit down; wait for Tamara and Kari to feel better so they can heal you, then you and him can have a go," she nodded to Matt and Sean went to sit down, and while his legs reverted, he still had claws for hands. "I'm not ok. I lost my brother because I lied and my team is down a ranger without a stronger power to replace him, meaning we lose badly without our sixth ranger. I don't need a legendary Tommy Oliver, or an Andros from KO-35, or even a rich Wes Collins or Mac Heartford. I need a Matt, present day Silver Ranger. Wether I also get back a brother is your choice, but for the sake of the world, we need our Silver Ranger," Ara stated.

"Ara, I'm sorry I wasn't there. I was mad and it wasn't right and because of my actions all of you got hurt," Matt stated. Ara couldn't think of much else to say. She had said her piece, so she decided to try and help Kari and Tamara. Ara made a small pool of warm water and began washing their cuts as they simply gave small wimpers of stinging pain.

"The wounded body is easier to heal than the wounded heart. Tamara and Kari can heal us when Ara and I have healed them. What you should apologize for are the discontented minds and wounded heart," Jared stated as he went by Ara to cover the wounds she had washed. Jared had been working on his own and had master some healing abilities, but they weren't as good as Kari and Tamara's. Though he could stop the minor cuts and bruises and lessen much of the pain, there was still much he couldn't finish. With his and Ara's help Kari and Tamara were well enough to heal the rest of themselves and then move on to Ara, Jared and Sean.

Matt watched in wonder as he saw the team work together to recover and eventually gain much of their strength back. He sat on the platform and thought carefully of what Jared had said.

"Can I take him now?" Sean asked Ara. He had a bit of eagerness in his voice combined with an odd fierceness.

"No," Ara stated shortly.

"Come on. You said I could," Sean tried.

"Look, I'm going home. I've had enough of my butt kicked for one day. Whatever you do is up to you," Ara said solomnly. "I'll see you guys tomorrow," With a gave a heavy sigh and teleported home without another word.

"I don't get it. Why is she so mad?" Matt asked louder than intended.

"She's not mad, just confused," Kari stated gently.

"What do you mean?" Matt asked as he turned to face her.

"She told us who you were because she didn't want us to attack you. She always wanted to include you in what we did but you always took off. She really wanted to get to know you as a real life friend, not an internet friend. Now I think she questions wether it was a good idea or not," Kari explained in the same gentle voice.

"How do you know all this?" he asked a little suspicious.

"Tamara and I can heal a lot of things. Hearts are one thing we're still working on, but I can tell a lot about them and her heart is, as Jared said, wounded. I saw it all when I healed her," Kari answered. Matt gave a heavy sigh and placed his forehead in his hands then moved his hands to the back of his head through his hair. Finally, after a moment, he got up and held out a hand to Kari, who shook it politely.

"Thank you," he said, then teleported without waiting for a response from Kari.

"I coulda took him," Sean declared.

"It would not have been wise," Sidira stated. Everyone looked at her with a surprised expression, fore they all had forgotten she was still there. "By restraining the majority of your feelings just now you have each excelled in self-control. I understand each of you are as upset as Ara that Matt did not come to help when he should have. He arrived in the command center just as you were considering to use the Souregnad weapons. I urged him to go help before it was too late, but I fear it was already so. Know this, though rangers, he watched you all with guilt in his eyes, of this I am sure,"

"I hope that guilt eats him worse than any damage I could do to him," Sean said angrily.

"Probably won't," Tamara commented. Her voice had no feeling in it. True, Matt made her as upset as he had anyone else in the group, but she was smart enough to keep it to herself. Her main agrivation came from the fact that the monster had gotten so close to finishing them for good. As she glanced around she saw Sean still flared and his tail formed, while Kari sat quietly with an odd expression and Jared sat looking at the ceiling. Eventually she had enough of wallowing in self-pity and decided to go home. Everyone seemed to agree and teleported to their own homes.


	12. School Daze

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers or anything affiliated to it. Just this fanfic and the characters in it.. except Matt. That's based off my friend to which I must give credit to.

So, what's up? This is sort of a filler, but at the same time, isn't. Hope you enjoy!

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The next morning was Monday and the group met at school. They didn't talk, just worked on homework and went to class. A huge surprise met Ara as she arrived to her first class, which was English. The teacher add added a desk next Ara, who was in the back row. At first she tried to move it elsewhere, but the teacher told her to keep it, and wouldn't give her a reason. Then throughout the lesson, the teacher kept looking towards the door, as if expecting someone. In the middle of the lesson, a knock came to the door. Everyone looked up as the teacher went to answer it. The teacher stood between the doorway and talked for a minute before entering the room again, followed by a familiar face.

"Everyone, can I have your attention for a minute. I know it's early and you all probably won't remember this tomorrow, but we have a new student. This is Matt Sullivan. He's a fellow junior, so please, make him feel welcome," Ara looked up and for an instant, their eyes met. Ara looked down right away and went back to working ahead in the lesson as much as she could. "Go ahead and sit down next to Ara. Ara, raise your hand so he knows where to sit?" It was posed as a question, but was more of a command. Ara raised her hand without looking up and she could tell the teacher wasn't pleased she hadn't looked up from her work. Ara felt the presence of Matt walking towards her and sitting in the empty desk next to her. She refused to look eye-to-eye with him through the entire class. She propped her head on her fist, supported by her elbow, and kept her gaze either down on her work or at the board with a constant sleepy look. Every now and then she'd steal a glance at Matt and saw him busying himself with the work he'd have to catch up on. He made no effort during the class to grab her attention, but she knew he would want to at least talk to her for one reason or another. After class, Ara got up and started toward the door, almost hoping to leave before she was stopped, but was uselessly cut off by Matt, just as she'd expected.

"Hey," he greeted with a smile.

"Hey," she answered. It wasn't warm and inviting, but it wasn't cold nor pushing.

"Uh, I'm gonna have some trouble catching up with the class. Think you can help me?" he asked a little nervously.

"Uhm, yeah, sure. Whatever. Know where your next class is?" she asked knowing he probably didn't.

"Not really. It just says 'Trigonometry and Theoretical Statistics. B205' " he read off.

"Well that's easy. Just follow me, we got that class together too," she answered somewhat chipper in an almost sarcastic way.

"Great!" he said enthusiastically.

_The sad part is, _she thought to herself, _he probably means it.._ She led him to the class and he took a seat next to her after notifying the teacher of his arrival. She saw he watched the board with confusion, but remained quiet during the lesson. After class they had a free period together which they took for Ara to show Matt to his other classes and help him catch up in English. She was thankful they didn't have every class together, but they did have a lot of them. Aside from English, Math, and the free period, they also had Computer Graphics, and Lunch. She was most thankful their gym periods were seperate and science class. She wasn't the best in gym, to say the least, and she didn't need any snide remarks about being fit as a necessity to being a ranger. Science occasionally reminded her of Power Rangers Dino Thunder and with Matt there, she knew they'd be cracking up over silent jokes they'd shared. Computer graphics was last and afterwards Matt asked what Ara was doing afterschool. She remembered today was a training day, but was hesitant at first to tell him. _Is it too soon to have him join us in training? He is a ranger.. I guess he and Sean can have a go, but Kari and Tamara will need to do a lot of healing.. which is good practice.._ With a small sigh, Ara leaned in a little close and told Matt in a hushed voice of the weekly training sessions and invited him. Ara could tell she'd struck a nerve when he didn't respond right away. The smile faded and he gave a hard look.

"I don't know. The others already hate my guts,"

"They don't hate your guts," she started. Matt gave her a look which made her smile. "Ok, Sean's the exception, but if he got to know you the way I do, I bet he'd think different of you. Come on, we train our powers so we don't always have to morph. We also train in our morphed form for experience,"

"I don't know if it's a good idea.. I mean.."

"Matt, come on. You don't have to be so anti-ranger-social anymore. We all know who you are, you know who we are, and you're here in Lexington! What's keeping you from having fun?"

"Ara, it's just not the right time, ok? Sorry, I'll see you later," Matt turned and walked into the crowd. Ara stood a little surprised and a little hurt. Finally, she decided there were just things she would never be able to understand and this was one of them. Ara went down to the Pit and started working out with the others. They soon moved to the park, but since there were other people, they resorted to light sparring in civilian form. As it got later in the evening, the group headed for home. Proud of their hard work, and busily thinking of what else she could do to train, Ara went online to try and find new martial arts moves and new possibilities for attacks with her own powers. The second Ara signed on, she forgot her instant messaging program was set for auto-sign in, which meant, immediately, it signed her onto the program and open to a bombardment of instant messages.

_Hey Ara!_ Kari greeted.

_What's up? _Tamara asked._  
Great practice today! _Sean messaged.

_Did you get problem seven?_ a friend asked.

_Watcha doin Friday?_ a second quired.

_Who's that guy I saw you whispering to? New boyfriend? Possibly?_ a third asked.

"Wah!" Ara said outloud. She hadn't expected so many to be talking to her at once. Ara promptly answered each person one by one in the order they came to her.

_Hey Kari! Wat's shakin?_

_NM T, just researchin. u?_

_I agree. You all worked really hard._

_Yes, multipy by the recipracol and then change that to the cos squared of x._

_Dunno. why?_

_Just a friend. He's new and I was just givin his some advice. _Ara looked carefully at the last message before sending her reply. Making sure to not make any hints of what's really going on was a little hard if she didn't pay attenton. Luckily, IMs were easy because you could always proof read, so long as you thought about it. Once making sure it was ok, she sent the last message and waited for another six replies as she continued researching.

_Not a whole lot. Playin ddr._

_Researching? For what?!_

_You too ya know._

_Ok, thanks. Laterz._

_Wanna hang out?_

_Ya know, he was pretty cute. You may have somethin there!_ Ara read the last one and laughed as she read it. She'd played with the idea of Matt as her boyfriend for a few seconds, then let it go. The thought of her internet brother Matt, who was no longer just on the internet, as a boyfriend was too much for her. Ara was about to reply to everyone again when she got a message from Kari.

_Nators are here. Bring help!_ Ara didn't hesitate. She put up an away message and called the others with her morpher, then teleported to Kari's house. Just as Kari said, the nators were in her front lawn, already attacking Kari and causing trouble.

"What do they want here?" Ara asked outloud just before she began to fight.

"I don't know. I was talking to you and they popped for a visit," Kari said as she worked on her share of enemies. Sean, Jared and Tamara came within a few seconds of Ara and began to fight as well. When most of the Nators were defeated, Master Rexus and the same monster from yesterday teleported in front of them.

"Master Rexus," Ara growled. "What do you want?"

"To watch you rangers be destroyed by my companion, Dogun!"

"Companion? You sure you don't mean minion?" Sean taunted.

"Dogun, search the premesis. My scanners say it is in the area. I will take care of these pesky rangers quickly,"

"Yes, master," Dogun said with a bow.

"So, wanna tell us what you're talking about before you, you know, kill us?"

"You rangers do not deserve to know, but you bested my nators, so I'll give you a clue. It is an incredible power, unlike anything you could've imagined! You, red ranger. You are strong, the best I've seen yet, better than Sacul if given enough power. I will make you a deal, red ranger. Surrender yourself to me, and I'll make you a head in my army!"

"You're kidding, right? She's not going with you!" Sean interrupted.

"Sean, shut it," Ara commanded.

"What? You can't seriously be thinking of going with him,"

"I said shut it,"

"The position is always open, red ranger. Only to you though. Take my advise; do not let those lesser rangers keep you down. Take my offer and you won't be sorry," Master Rexus said.

"You've said your piece, now get out of here, before we hafta rough ya up!" Ara stated.

"Ha, you're quite amusing, red ranger. I'll leave for now, but I'll be back when Dogun has found my power," With that, Master Rexus left and Dogun was no where in sight.

"You can't honestly even be thinking of taking his offer!" Sean shouted.

"Yeah, I mean, that's so not like you," Tamara agreed.

"Chill, I wouldn't honestly take it.. but the idea does dance a bit,"

"Ara!" Sean shouted again.

"Sean, calm down. I'm not gonna leave you guys on purpose, alright?"

"No, it's not alright. I can't believe I'm hearing this!"

"Yes, you can. Look, I have no plans to take his offer, ok?" Ara said, raising her voice. Ara waited for at least a nod from Sean before she demorphed. "I'm goin home. If anyone sees Dogun, call and we'll finish him off next time," Ara teleported without waiting for anyone to say anything more. She was about to sign off her messaging program when she saw Matt on. She made herself invisible to others and instant messaged him.

_Boo!_ she typed.

_hey Ara_ he typed back.

_So where were you?_

_What do you mean?_

_There was a nator attack at Kari's place. Master Rexus showed up._

_Oh, sorry. Guess I didn't hear the call._

_Yeah, I sorta figured that one.. Hey, if it makes u feel any better, I got Sean mad at me today._

_Congrats. What'd you do?_

_Master Rexus offered me a job. I didn't entirely down it in front of Master Rexus and Sean got mad._

_Seriously? He did?_

_Yeah, seriously. He said he'd make me a head in his army if I joined him, but it could only be me. I think what really got Sean, though, is that Master Rexus called him a lesser ranger._

_rofl. Yeah well, everyone knows the red and silver rangers are the strongest!_

_Hey, there is no I, or U in TEAM._

_lol No, but there's an M and an E._

_Yeah, and an A and T. that spells meat! lol. Don't go down that road, you'll get ur butt kicked! So, whatcha doin?_

_lol, hey, watcha mean by that road?_

_I mean if you try to take on monsters all by yourself, then you're gonna go down pretty hard._

_Look who's talkin, lol_

_haha, very funny. Nyways, watcha doin?_

_nmh. homework._

_o yeah, english paper!_

_yep!_

_i'll do it eventually._

_eventually better be soon. Due Thursday._

_please, I don't need u nagging about my homework habits. Just know it always gets done on time, and I'm an A/B average student._

_lol ok, I wasn't going to. Wat r u doin?_

_Chattin, researchin, stuff like that._

_Of course, everything you're not supposed to be doing.._

_Matt.. Not like it matters much, but I'm researching ranger stuff._

_Riiiight._

_See you tomorrow._ she concluded. Ara signed off feeling quite annoyed and went for dinner. When she was through, she went to her room to watch the newest series of Power Rangers and play Soduko. A few hours later she went to bed readying herself for the next monster.


	13. Back in Black is Such A Cliche

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers or anything affiliated to it.

How is everyone?! Well, I'm good, thanks. Well, no witty comments really. I know the clues aren't all that great, but hey, I tried. Have fun! -Kai

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Power Rangers _was_ the lamest show he knew. Yet, ironically, he was one. He, Jared Marsol, was a costumed clown full of silly dances and pointless shooting and the monsters were all supposedly fake as well as the fighting that took place. He looked in the mirror carefully. He'd changed over the past several months of being a power ranger. His hair was a bit longer and he still dressed mostly in black, but his composure was different. He had friends he chose to talk to every day, unlike his usual clique, and, since he was constantly alert in case of a nator attack, he didn't slouch when he walked. He was more talkative outside class and even smiled more. He looked at the clock. _Shoot!_ He was going to be late to meet the others. He grabbed his backpack and raced out the door to his black Jeep Wrangler. He was one of the few lucky juniors to be driving already. "Five minutes to spare" he mumbled proudly as he parked in his assigned spot. He ran inside the school, jumping over a pile of backpacks on the way and calmly walked towards the others just as rounded the corner to their meeting spot.

"Jared! Nice of you to join us!" Ara called.

"Cut it a little close there, but perfect Jared could never be late," Sean joked as he hung an arm around Jared's shoulder in a drunk manner.

"I see he's here," Jared commented as he looked in Matt's direction.

"I know whatcha mean," Sean muttered dismally in Jared's ear.

"Yeah, well.." Matt stammered.

"Chill, dude. You're one of us, so u get the pleasure of our company," Ara said happily.

"So, anyone have Physics two excel?" Kari asked.

"Jared does!" Sean offered.

"Great! Then you can help me with the homework, right?" Kari asked trying to look cute.

"I think not," Jared muttered.

"Why not?" Kari whined.

"Cause Jared here's too macho cool to be giving tutoring lessons," Sean continued with a smile. Jared shrugged Sean off his shoulder and looked Kari straight in the eye. Something else he didn't do before he became a ranger.

"Because Sean's wrong, I'm not in Physics two excel. I'm in Chemistry two excel," Jared answered. He felt a smile creep into the corners of his mouth, but he supressed it and kept his indifferent face.

"Sean!" Kari complained. Jared saw out of the corner of his eyes Matt and Ara laughing while Tamara had a face he couldn't read.

"What? I don't know the dope's schedual by heart!" Sean stated.

"So why'd you even offer?" Tamara inputed.

"Hey, he didn't say anything against it," Sean tried.

"You're such an idiot," Tamara taunted sounding annoyed. The bell rang and the group departed their seperate ways. Matt and Ara walked to class together while Kari and Tamara went to their class. Jared took off, quietly, at a quick pace, making Sean nearly run to catch up.

"Ready for the two mile run today?" Sean asked. Jared could tell he was just trying to make conversation but decided to keep quiet. Afterall, he did have a reputation to keep up. He shrugged silently to answer Sean's question and continued walking at his quick pace. "Well of course you are. You're so fit, I bet you could run four miles. Anyway, got any idea who you're gonna ask to the dance?" They arived at the locker rooms and Jared looked hard at Sean. He'd completely forgotten about the big Homecoming Dance; most people had thanks to the monsters. He wasn't one to ask anyone to a dance, or even to go one himself, so what made Sean think he, Jared, was going to have a girl in mind to ask.

"Are you serious?" He asked shortly. He didn't wait for an answer. He did have a girl in mind, though. One who was strong, loyal, kind, beautiful, intelligent. Everything he wanted in a girl and more. He went in the locker room and changed quickly, not waiting for Sean or anyone and began warming up for the run. It was a crisp morning, but the sun shine was warm and inviting. The coach called and the boys grouped quickly before to see the course. They ran around the outside of the school twice, stopping by a designated area for water and towels when needed. Afterward, the class had to change back into their usual clothes and run to their next class. Tired and sweaty, Jared arrived to his science class on time, and prepared to build molecular structure. The rest of his day went on uneventful, but he stayed quiet and alert for any monster attack. Afterschool he stopped at his locker to drop off some things and pick up others and headed towards his car. On his way he saw Ara running in his direction with a smile and a hand waving high above her head.

"Hey, goin home so soon?" she asked casually.

"Yeah," he muttered. A simple nod would have suficed but he couldn't help his answer being voiced.

"Alright, well, if you need me, Kari, or Tamara we'll be in Cartooning Club," she said the club's name with a silly voice and giggled afterward. "Don't hesitate to call if there's a monster though," she added in a low voice. He nodded to show his understanding and continued to his car to go home while Ara continued to her club. The sky was bright and sunny with a cool breeze blowing, making him wear sunglasses to shield his eyes from the light and put the top of his Jeep down for the fresh air. Two more habits he found himself doing since he became a ranger. As he started to drive a jolt of lightening struck right in front of him, making him slam on the breaks and watch as the people around him panic. When he looked in the rearview mirror, he saw a yellow and black looking monster with metal spikes coming from his shoulders and a sword at its waist.

"Greetings citizens of this pathetic city! I am Drakonia, master of the Dark Skies! Surrendur to me or you'll all perish to my tornado storms!" Just as the monster announced his arrival, the sky went dark and swirls of clouds were seen all over. This seemed to panic the people even more, but Jared knew exactly what to do. He ducked in his car and pulled out his morpher.

"Darkness," he muttered. He morphed and smiled at the power and control he felt. Quickly he stood on the back seat and scanned the scene carefully. He saw some of the people still panicking from the monster, some of the people relieved to see the black ranger, the monster standing proudly on a small storm cloud and the disturbance the llghting had caused.

"Ah, Black Ranger, how nice of you to join the party!" the monster called as a group of nators came down.

Jared didn't bother responding; he jumped off his Jeep and started attacking the nators with all his might. He smiled as he saw himself quickly make the nators dissappear. He turned to the monster, planning his next attack. _Two power blasts and an energy ball should do it.._ he said to himself. He didn't have time to execute his plan though. The monster made two lighting jolts hit the ground right in front of Jared, making him lose balance in surprise. Before he could blink the monster was charging him with his sword drawn, as if to give the final blow. Jared did his best to move quickly and roll to the side, but it wasn't quick enough. The monster slashed Jared in the back, making him yelp in pain as he demorphed. He stared at the monster with a menacing glare as he strained to raise himself to his knees.

"Is that all you have? I thought the Power Rangers were supposed to be tough!" the monster called.

"We are!" Jared heard a voice call from behind him. As Jared turned carefully, he saw Matt with Sean, Ara, Kari and Tamara all in their morphed ranger forms.

"Are you ok Jared?!" Kari called. Jared didn't feel like yelling, so he got up silently, gritting his teeth through the pain and limped over to the others before responding.

"Fine," he said quietly as he sat down with a sour look.

"Kari, Tamara, can you heal Jared? Sean and Matt, I want you guys to come with me and keep the monster busy," Ara commanded.

"His name's Drakonia, look out for his lightening and storms," Jared offered as Kari and Tamara got to work,

"Right, thanks," Ara answered. Jared watched her lead the two other boys in a charge with weapons drawn. When Kari and Tamara finished Jared thanked them and tried to morph again, but couldn't.

"Try again," Kari commanded.

"Darkness!" Jared called. Still, nothing happened except he started feeling stupid being with all eyes on him. The girls stared at him for a few seconds before Matt came over.

"Hey, we could use some help, what's the hold up?" Matt asked.

"He can't morph," Kari explained shortly.

"What?" Matt asked again.

"We healed him as best we could, but he can't morph," Tamara continued.

"But.." Matt started, "Ok, Kari, Tamara go help Ara and Sean. I'll stay with Jared,"

"Alright.." Tamara answered uneasily. Jared watched the girls run to help Ara and Sean while Matt took a seat next to Jared.

"Don't worry, man, it'll be ok," Matt tried.

"I'm not worried," Jared stated. He kept a stern look and held a calm tone in his voice.

"Good, cause I'd panic if I suddenly lost my power to morph. Ya know, something like this happened Tommy Oliver in Power Rangers and he never got his power back. Zordon gave him a new power though, something a lot stronger than his old power," Matt said oddly cheerful.

"Look, I'm not a costumed power freak who calls himself a ranger. I'm only in this for the fights," Jared said in a more harsh tone then he'd meant.

"Oh.. right.. So you really don't want to save the world and stuff?" Matt asked confused.

"I could care less if the world was destroyed," Jared said lightly as he watched his friends.

"Well, that makes one of us," Matt answered as he gave Jared an annoyed look. Jared could tell he'd struck a nerve from his last comment, but didn't change his outward expression. Matt soon got up and went to help the others and together they destroyed the monster. Jared got up when he saw the small explosion and started walking to his Jeep to inspect the damage. It wasn't bad: a few scratches on the door and a small dent in the back, but the interior was all dust and soot. He started up his car, but Ara came running so he chose to wait.

"Hey, Matt says you were rude or something?" she asked in a disbelieving voice.

"I just told him the truth," Jared muttered back. He could tell Ara was straining to hear him, but he didn't really care. He shifted into drive and took off without another word, leaving the others running to catch up to Ara. Jared arrived home and started cleaning up his car. He used a vaccum to clean the dust and soot and a special scratch removing forumula to remove the small scratches, then touch-up paint to cover the large ones. His dad came home, and asked casually about the car, and when Jared told him of the monster attack his dad seemed unphased. This brought him memories of his mother, smiling and talking about how he was so much like his father. Jared soon realized he was spacing out and went back to working on his car. After a few hours Jared's car was finished and had to dry so he went inside to get some dinner and do his homework. His dad asked if he needed any help, and Jared carelessly said he didn't. He finished his homework within an hour and went online, merely to see who was on.

_Jared!_ Sean instant messaged him immediately.

_What do you want?_

_That was awsome! That Matt guy looked so mad when he came back from talking to you!_

_I didn't do it just to piss him off you know._

_Yeah, but it was so great anyway!_

_whatever._

_Hey, no worries man, you'll morph again!_

_Like I told Matt: I'm not worried._

_Yeah, of course you're not. So, see you tomorrow?_

_Duh_ Jared signed off, not letting Sean retaliate and switched to the television for the rest of his evening entertainment.

In the morning, he got up, showered, dressed and grabbed a breakfast bar for the road. He inspected his Jeep to make sure yesterday's work was satisfactory and drove off to school. Today he didn't bother visiting the others. He didn't want more conversation of him losing his morphing ability. He stopped by his old clique and gave a nod as a sign of greeting.

"Hey, where you been?" a member of the clique asked carelessly.

"Busy," Jared answered shortly. He listened to his i-pod and waited for the bell which rang shortly. Sean was talkative as usual, asking where Jared had been that morning and trying to talk about the other rangers. Jared didn't pay much attention; merely nodding or shrugging in the appropriate places. He ran into Ara in the hall and lunch room but only an awkward hello and a few pleasantries were exchanged. After school he reported to his jeep and hoped for a less eventful ride home than yesterday which he recieved. As he was about to delve into an afterschool snack of chocolate chip ice cream, his communicator went off. He looked around as if it were someone elses, wondering why the others would call him. "What?" he asked.

"Jared, please report to the command center. I would like a word with you," Sidira stated. She closed the connection before Jared could ask any questions leaving him to wonder what she was up to. She didn't seem the type to give an order like that, but this order didn't seem too out of the way for him. He finished his ice cream and put the bowl in the sink and teleported to the place the group had dubbed the command center. He was pleased to see no one except Sidira was waiting for him. "Thank you for coming. I'm sure you're wondering why I called you here without the others," she started.

"Not really," he shrugged carelessly.

"I saw what happened yesterday and wished to talk to you then, but you seemed in a bit of a foul mood, so I thought to wait for today. Do you want to know why you can't morph?" Sidira asked. Jared gave his usual indifferent shrug. "In your fight with Drakonia, each hit you took he transferred some of your energy to Master Rexus, and when he gave the attack that made you demorph, he drained the last of your morphing power. When the other rangers destroyed Drakonia, they didn't reverse the transfer, merely cut it off. You were lucky the others came when they did or you would have lost all your powers. You still hold the power of Darkness, and you can still use it to fight, but it will tire you easily," Jared stared at her as she explained. He barely moved at all except to breathe, soaking in all she said. _I want to fight Master Rexus, but not for her reasons. Maybe if I just play along I'll find a way to get my morphing power back._ "You can restore your power wished, but it will be a challenge," Sidira continued.

"What do I have to do?" he asked clearly.

"You must go to a lake at the bottom of the Abyss of Darkness and search for a black crystal. Touch your morpher to the crystal and your morphing ability will be restored," Sidira explained.

"I'll do it," he stated. Sidira smiled, but Jared could tell it was a sad smile.

"Very well, come back tomorrow morning and the teleportation will be ready," Sidira instructed. Jared did as told and went home for the evening. In the morning he took off for school, but once parked with the ignition off, he called himself in sick and teleported to the command center. "Are you sure you're ready for this?" Sidira asked him. Jared nodded confidently, but could feel his legs weakening a bit. "You must be very careful. I can teleport you to the abyss, but you will have to climb down on your own and search for the crystal. Remember, the Abyss of Darkness is named that for a reason. The paths are crossed and treacherous, and there are creatures you may encounter that are worse than nators. Be careful whom you trust to guide you," she cautioned.

"Then how will I know where to go?" Jared asked.

"Your power of darkness comes from within you. You must search yourself for the correct path," Sidira advised.

"Alright, I'm ready. Teleport me now, please," Jared announced. Sidira nodded silently and teleported him. Jared felt a strange sensation as he was teleported and could tell the trip would be long if not for teleportation. He arrived at the entrance of a giant hole with no apparent bottom. He dropped a nearby stone into the hole, trying to listen for a sound of the stone's landing, and after a few seconds heard what he wanted. _Not too far, good.._ He sighed as he grabbed a handful of small stones and started climbing down the cliff of the abyss. It was a bit cold and extremely dark. There were times when he couldn't tell where his next hand or foot hold was. _Not called the Abyss of Darkness for nothing,_ he thought to himself as he continued down. Every few feet he dropped a stone, wondering how close he was getting. He was glad the abyss wasn't too steep or he'd have even more trouble, but he still held onto the rock tightly. Every now and then he got to a landing and took a break. His eyes slowly adjusted to the dark and he could make outlines of the area around. He mainly saw rocks but every now and then he could swear he saw a pair of yellow-green cat eyes. After what seemed like an hour of climbing down, he reached the bottom. He was glad he didn't have to hold on for dear life anymore, but he kept alert, aware that any wrong footing could mean disaster. As he neared a large pool of water a few glowing crystals came into view. One was red, one was green, one was yellow, and one was pink. He looked in the center of the water and saw a white light. He began to wonder if this was the right lake, or if he'd gone the wrong way coming down. Suddenly, a green cat came out of nowhere and Jared saw it had the same yellow-green eyes he'd seen on the way down.

"Who are you?" the cat asked curiously.

"Jared.. Jared Marsol. Who are you?" Jared asked surprised.

"Doesn't Matter," the cat stated. Jared looked at it for a minute before his assumptions kicked in. _This is Sean, playing a joke! That's why the others weren't at the command center. They all planned this!_

"Knock it off Sean!" Jared stated annoyed.

"Sean? Sean? I do not know any Sean, but I do know I am not Sean," the cat stated. _Not Sean?_ Jared wondered to himself.

"So if you're not Sean, then who are you?" he asked cautiously.

"I am Doesn't Matter, and this is my place!" the cat answered.

"Really, so what is this place called?" he continued.

"My place!" the cat continued.

"Ok, so your name is Doesn't Matter and I'm at Your Place," Jared thought ouloud.

"No, my place" the cat corrected.

"Yeah, you're place," Jared commented.

"No, my place," the cat corrected again.

"That's what I said, your place," Jared stated. He was getting fustrated and the cat seemed to be enjoying it.

"No, my place," The cat grinned.

"Fine, _my_ place," Jared tried.

"Very good!" the cat said pleased.

"Look, I'm searching for something called a black crystal. Know where it is?" Jared asked trying to calm down.

"Yep!" the cat said happily.

"Can you tell me where it is?" Jared asked.

"I could.." the cat smiled misheviously.

"Will you?" Jared tried.

"Maybe," the cat continued.

"Please?" Jared tried again.

"Very well, but you must work for it!" the cat stated seeming pleased with himself.

"I don't have time, please just tell me where the black crystal is," Jared asked fustrated again.

"Oh, you're no fun! I'm done talking to you, Jared Marsol!" the cat dissappeared with an angry look.

"No, please, come back!" Jared tried a little panicked.

"I don't know.. Will you work for your black crystal information?" the cat's voice asked. Jared thought a moment with an annoyed expression on his face. Did he really have time to be doing stupid little chores? _I'm bargaining with the Sheshire Cat! Do I have a choice?_ he asked himself.

"Fine, I'll work for you, in exchange for information on the black crystal, but not too long. Only a few hours!"

"Then you will only recieve a few hints," the cat informed. _Better than nothing.._ Jared thought to himself. "Follow the eyes and you will find your first task!" Jared saw a line of glowing green-yellow eyes leading him into a darker part of the surrounding forest. He walked in the direction of the eyes and stopped where they stopped. "Play an instrument," he heard the cat instruct. A spotlight shown on three different things. A saxaphone, a large metal desk with a wooden top, and a pair of pants.

"Are you serious?" he asked as he stared at the three items he was given.

"Quite young ranger. Now play!" the cat ordered. Jared was surprised to hear the cat call him a ranger, fore he'd never mentioned it, but he did as told anyway. He looked at each item carefully and thought of how to play each. He'd never had a saxaphone lesson before, and a desk and a pair of pants weren't instruments. Still he thought it over carefully and started playing the saxaphone with horrible squeaks coming out. The cat appeared with a pained expression and Jared smiled inside knowing he was annoying the cat. "No no! I meant play it well!" the cat complained as he dissappeared again. Jared put the saxaphone down and looked at the other two items. Brilliance struck him. He began to play the desk as if it were a drum. The cat soon appeared and was tapping its front left paw the beat Jared produced and smiled pleased. "Well done. Your first hint is simple: Light meets dark and the crystal is revealed. Next task!" the eyes continued and Jared followed obediently, thinking over his first clue. "Next you must solve the puzzle," the cat instructed. Jared looked at where he had stopped. There was a large stone slab with carved symbols and a few levers.

"No clues?" Jared asked assumingly.

"Not until you're finished," the cat mused.

"I meant for the puzzle,"

"So did I," the cat said with a sly smile. Jared shook his head and went to work, trying to figure out the strange code. It took him what seemed like another hour, but in the end, all Jared had to do was press the second lever and a door opened. The cat went through the door and came back out with a ball of yarn. "Much in your debt young ranger. This yarn is very important,"

"Yeah, whatever, what's my next hint?" Jared demanded.

"I'm trying to give you thanks and all you care about is that crystal? Very well.. It is black and round and sharp," the cat answered. "Next task!" Jared followed the eyes once more, thinking of his next clue and trying to combine it with his last. Finally, they came to the base of a lit hill with small boulders at the bottom and a fenced in area at the top. "Carry these boulder-dash rocks up the hill and put them inside the fence for me. Do this and you will have a wonderful clue!" the cat said happily. Jared looked at the boulders, then at the fence at the top. The hill wasn't extrememly steep, but he knew he'd have trouble getting up the hill with a boulder. Still, he took a deep breath and let it out and stretched a little. He started with one boulder and rolled it up. One by one, Jared placed each boulder in the fenced in area and at the end sat at the top of the hill to rest. As Jared rested, the cat pulled the lever by the fence releasing all the boulders back down the hill to where they started. "Oh, well done! For this I must give you a good clue! Hm... I know! I swim with the fishes, but can fly with the birds. I am not an animal, but part of the world!"

"That's all you wanted to do with the boulders?" Jared asked. He didn't have the energy to do another task, or even yell at the cat called Doesn't Matter, so his questioned sounded more amused than anything.

"Yes, but I realize it's quite a bit of work, so I gave you an extra helpful clue for doing such a wonderful job, and in such a timely fashion too!" the cat said happily. Jared suddenly realized how helpful the last clue had been. He quickly stood up and ran down the hill, ignoring Doesn't Matter's calls to come back. As Jared ran back towards the lake he started at, the cat caught up and appeared right in front of Jared, making him almost trip as he stopped. "You cannot go yet. I still have more tasks for you, and more clues to give!" the cat exclaimed.

"I don't need any more clues, thanks," Jared stated. He went around the cat and continued to the lake. He thought for only a second as to wether he ought to take off all his clothes, until he settled to leave his boxers on while everything else he stripped off. He dove into the water without a second thought and began searching. The water was clear yet cold, but he didn't let that get in his way. _Light meets dark..black, round, sharp.. swim with fishes, fly with birds, not an animal, but part of the world.. It's gotta be a scale or something. Something on a fish. All I have to do is touch the crystal with my morpher and I can go home.._ Jared went up for a breath of air and dove again, until he saw the light that emitted from the middle of the lake. He went up for one last breath and dove one more time, aiming for the point where the light of the crystal above me the darkness of the crystal below. Finally, he found it. A large fish was swimming with a small school of others similar to it. Jared carefully went around the fish's blindspot and put his morpher to the fish. A purplish glow emitted from the fish and Jared felt a strange power flow over him. He smiled, knowing his power had been returned. Jared swam to the top of the water, but his smile dropped when he reach the surface. He looked around to see strange, green-yellow eyed creatures surrounding the lake.

"You should have listened to me young ranger. I still have more tasks for you," the cat stated as he appeared on a path..


	14. Princess

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers or anything affiliated to it. Just the characters.

Having fun? I am. I've been busy with more chapters to come. And to think, we're not even close to Winter Break! Enjoy. -Kai

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Ara looked at the clock. It was only recently she realized Jared was a part of her martial arts class, but when she thought back, he'd never missed a session. _5:30.. Where is he?_ Ara worked with the others in her class, warming up, doing her self-defense moves, basic combinations and such, but she still thought of Jared. _Sean said he wasn't in school today.. I hope a monster hasn't kidnapped him or something.._ The session finished at 6 and the group departed. Ara went home, ate a light dinner and finished any left over school work which had been dubbed homework. Afterwards she watched her usual fill of Power Rangers and went to bed. In the morning she came to school and still no Jared.

"Uh, guys, something's wrong," Sean started.

"What?" Kari asked.  
"I stopped by Jared's place yesterday and his car was gone, and today, I see his car in the parking lot, but I don't see him within a fifty mile radius," Sean explained.

"He's gone after his power," Matt concluded.

"How? If we destroyed Drakonia and he still didn't get his power back, then doesn't that mean he's never gonna get it back?" Tamara asked logically.

"Sidira must've found a way for Jared to get it back, and he left yesterday for it and just hasn't come back yet," Ara thought outloud.

"Exactly," Matt commented.

"But what if something's happened to him?" Kari asked worridly. "Shouldn't we, you know, go after him?"

"Afterschool, maybe.. We'll have to talk to Sidira. I'm willing to bet a penny he knew what he was getting himself into. Sidira wouldn't send him into danger blind,"

"If it's afterschool, you'll have to go without me. I've got this thing I gotta do," Sean announced.

"Don't worry. Sidira may be this powerful sorceress person who could turn us all into toads if she wanted, but I _think_ we can handle talking to her on our own," Tamara said confidently with a smile, making everyone but Sean realize it was meant as a joke.

"Hey, I'd come if I could. It's a stupid thing, really, but my parents insist," Sean retorted.

"Calm down, I was serious. Don't worry about it," Tamara said trying not to laugh.

"I knew that.." Sean said sheepishly. He sat down and worked on homework he neglected to finish. Ara finished any of her work, but it wasn't much. She started playing a game of tetris on her i-pod when a suddenly rumble was heard and the ground shook. Everyone looked up from what they were doing and to see eachother's reaction. One thing popped into everyone's mind: _Trouble._ The group packed their things quickly, but left their bags, believing no one would think of stealing them while the school was in danger. They ran to the front, but didin't find anything and after another shake of the floor beneath them, they ran to the back to look for the danger. They passed a bunch of kids in the cafeteria who didn't seem to care too much, but a few did seem a little panicked. Still they didn't seem to find the monster or even a nator, until they went outside and started looking around. Ara looked high and found Dogun on the roof, doing what looked to be a strange dance.

"Guys, up there! Let's ranger up and go," Ara declared.

"Here? Anyone can see us," Sean argued.

"Then go the little boys room and morph, I don't care. We gotta stop Dogun before he destroys our school," Ara stated.

"Hey, I wouldn't mind a little break," Sean thought with a smile.

"Sean, we just had one. Come on, we gotta learn something!" Kari argued.

"I guess.." Sean said dismally.

"Come on, guys. Elemental," Ara called. The others caught on and assemebled.

"Transformer" Sean called.

"Healer" Tamara and Kari called together.

"Light" Matt called. The group morphed quickly and made their way to the roof jumping from the ground to the trees and from the trees to the roof.

"Ok, we give up. What are you doing?" Ara asked outloud.

"It doesn't concern you rangers, now leave me alone!" Dogun demanded. He continued his dance without stopping to talk and ignored as the rangers gave him wierd looks under their helmets. Ara was the first to race into action. She pulled her pistol and started running at him, shooting as she ran. Immediately Dogun stopped to see what was happening. He tried to jump, but Ara was too quick. She'd fired her gun in his chest, making him unable to move in time. Once she was close enough, she attacked with a kick to the chest, sending him flying off balance, but not off the roof. He came staggering back with an energy beam of his own which struck her even harder in the chest, making her fall back towards her friends. Luckily they ran to catch up with her, trying to get into the action right behind her. Matt led the charge behind Ara and caught her as she fell back. He fired his pistol at the monster just before the others did the same. Ara struck with the others which sucessfully blasted the monster off the roof and landing hard on his back.

"Ow. You haven't seen the last of me, rangers!" Dogun struggled to stand and dissappeared in a warp. The group jumped off the roof, made sure no one was looking and demorphed.

"You ok, Ara?" Matt asked seeming concerned.

"I'm ok, thanks," Ara tried. She did feel a little sting from Dogun's blast, but she didn't mind too much. Nothing felt broken, so she didn't see a need to complain. "What about the rest of ya?" she asked.

"We didn't get hit," Matt pointed out.

"So? Doesn't hurt to ask," Ara pointed herself.

"We're fine, ok? What did he want here?" Tamara asked.

"I'm not sure.. First Kari's house, now here.. we'll have to keep an eye out for where ever he shows up next," Ara thought outloud.

"Think it's a mystic force spell circle?" Matt asked.

"What the heck's your problem? This isn't tv, we can't base everything off Power Rangers the tv series," Sean said harshly. Ara could tell Sean said it worse than he meant it, but she also noticed Matt more than just a bit insulted by the words.

"Lighten up, Sean. He's only trying to help," Ara tried. "School's intact, so let's get to class,"

"Fine," Sean commented irritated. The group went to pick-up their things and departed when the bell rang which did so within a few minutes. Matt followed Ara to English and took a seat next to her. They ended up passing small notes to eachother while the teacher wasn't looking, mostly about the latest inter-ranger social developments.

_What was Sean's problem today?_ Matt wrote.

_He's just mad, what else is new._ she wrote back.

_I don't get it. Why is he only mad at me? What'd I do?_

_Besides upstage him in Power Rangers? Nothing. He gets annoyed from the littlest things, ignore it._

_I can't. I swear, one day he's gonna end up ripping my throat out.. on purpose._

_No he's not. He knows his duty and knows he's not supposed to hurt his team mates._ Ara scribbled. The teacher looked up and Ara locked eyes with him for a second before he continued. She could tell he knew what she was doing, but she was thankful he didn't do anything about it. She passed the note one last time and the two waited for the bell to ring. Immediately they got up as the first ring sounded and started heading quickly out the door.

"Ara, he may know he's not _supposed_ to hurt me, but it doesn't mean he won't. Just one slip and he'll be all over me, trying to blast the sucker off my wrist!" Matt exclaimed. They got a few looks, but Ara ignored them. She knew Matt was making his point by not revealing they were power rangers, but she still gave him a look that told him to keep it down.

"Look, he's loyal to the orignal five, just like us, and he knows it'll only hurt the team if he does anything. He's knows not to do anything that'll split the team up, and even if he tries, it'll be all of us against him," Ara tried logically. Still, she wasn't so sure herself that Sean wouldn't try to hurt Matt in training. "Besides, Kari and Tamara will always be standing by," Ara smiled, trying to get Matt to smile, which he did, as they sat in their seats. The conversation ended there, but Ara could tell this would pick up again another time.

After school the group met in their morning spot except for Sean who went home. They teleported when no one was looking. "Hey, Sidira, we got a question!" Ara called.

"Yes?" she replied. She didn't seem surprised to see the group, but she didn't seem to be expecting them either.

"Where's Jared?"

"You mean he hasn't reported to you all yet?"

"No.. was he supposed to?" Tamara asked.

"I suppose he wouldn't.." Sidira mumbled.

"So you know where he is?," Ara asked assumingly.

"Yes. He is on a quest for his black ranger power," Sidira answered with a sigh.

"Great! See guys? No problem," Matt said happily.

"Just a little problem actually. Would it really take him this long to get his power back?" Ara asked concerned.

"She's got a point there.." Kari started.

"Sidira, can we see Jared in action right now?" Tamara asked.

"I'm afraid not. My viewing capabilities do not reach that far," Sidira reported dismally.

"That far? How far is that far?" Tamara asked.

"Quite far,"

"That's it. We can't just leave him alone anymore. Game's over, I vote we go after him," Ara stated.

"I agree. Let's go," Kari replied.

"Tamara, Matt?" Ara asked quickly. Both nodded silently, but Sidira shook her head no.

"I'm afraid my power does not extend that far. I only have power to teleport one of you,"

"Ok, then I'll go," Ara stated.

"No, let me. I'm the man here," Matt insisted.

"Matt, this isn't about who's a man and who's a woman," Ara tried.

"Then what is it about?" Matt asked.

"Nothing. Point is, I'm leader, so it's only fit that I go," Ara stated. Matt gave her a look which made Ara smile. "No worries, I'll be fine. Sidira, teleport me, please," Ara stated.

"Very well," Sidira answered. Matt took a step back, eyes pleading that she stay.

"Besides, you gotta be here to help watch for Dogun. If he shows up, don't hesitate to destroy him," Ara instructed. Matt nodded his head once to show he heard.

"Ara, I will be sending you to the entrance of the Abyss of Darkness. You'll have to go down the abyss first to get to the area Jared is in. I'll give you the same warning I gave him. There are many creatures there, some are even worse than nators. You must be very careful," Sidira stated.

"Right, thanks," Ara answered.

"Ara, we'll be waiting for you," Matt called as he watched her get teleport into darkness.

Ara looked all around wondering where she was. She saw a large pit, which was pitch black for far as she could tell, and black-ish looking trees all around. "Jared!" she called out. She didn't hear anything that was close to a response so she started down the pit. She did her best to watch her footing, but a few times she slipped and fell onto a small terrace she hadn't been expecting. It took her a long time, but she finally made it down in one piece. "Jared!" she called again. As she looked around she saw a glowing lake. It was beautiful and glowing which easily attracted her, but somehow she still found it fitting with the darkness. "Jared!" she continued as she walked closer and closer to the lake. As she neared she saw a figure floating in the water with a bunch of green-yellow eyes all focused on the figure in the water. "Jared!" she called a final time as she ran to the water. She got to the edge, but adruptly stopped. The figure was swimming towards her, but as her eyes quickly scanned the area, she saw he was probably coming for his clothes as opposed to her. He got up and Ara's eyes moved to the glowing lake quickly. "Sorry.." she said sheepishly. "Are you ok? We were worried when you didn't show up for school," Ara commented, eyes still not returning to Jared until she was sure he was dressed again.

"You shouldn't turn your eyes on the enemy," he answered.

"Enemy? But you're my friend," Ara thought outloud as she turned back to face a fully dressed Jared.

"He isn't," he answered, nodding towards the glowing eyes.

"If I didn't know those were probably dangerous, I'd want to come back to look at the pretty lake," she commented thoughtfully.

"We need to go, before he changes his mind,"

"Changes his mind, what do you mean?" Ara wondered outloud.

"Too late!" an evil voice stated. A cat lept and the eyes followed. Dozens of, what looked to Ara, mutated cats jumped out from the dark and appeared, each one ready to claw Jared and herself.

"Ah!" a loud high pitch came from Ara before she had time to supress it. Jared acted quickly, though, running to the side, yanking Ara with him. They kept running until the eyes couldn't be seen. Ara stopped and pulled her wrist back sharply so he would be sure to let go. "What are those things?" she asked as she rubbed her sore wrist with the other hand.

"I'm not sure, but I believe they are what Sidira was referring to when she said more dangerous than nators," Jared answered evenly.

"So let's morph and fight. We gotta get back to the others soon," Ara stated.

"How do we get back?" he asked logically.

"Uhm.. your new black ranger power?" Ara tried with a hopeful smile, though she knew it was useless.

"I don't think so. I'm recharged and stronger, but not by much. I can't teleport us yet,"

"Darn.. So, let's go back up the way we came down and use our morphers to have Sidira teleport us back,"

"I'm not sure she'll be able to hear us," Jared commented.

"Well do you have any bright ideas?" Ara asked a little irritated.

"I do," a voice laughed. Ara jumped back behind Jared to see the cat was right by her shoulder.

"We don't have time for games, Doesn't Matter. Spill!" Jared commanded as placed a hand in front of Ara to make sure she would be protected. She'd never heard Jared so in charge. He'd always been the dark, mysterious, soft talker type, in her oppinion.

"But I still have more tasks for you. And now you'll have help!" the cat stated playfully.

"No, she's not involved. If anything, send her back and I'll finish your tasks," Jared bargained. Ara looked at him with surprise.

"No, I'm not leaving without you. I'm supposed to bring you back," Ara said quietly by his ear.

"It may be the only way. You know I'm fine now, so you guys can bring me back," Jared tried.

"I don't care, I'm not leaving you," Ara strained to keep quiet, but it was difficult as she grew more fustrated.

"No, you're going back, end of discussion," Jared stated, no longer staying quiet either.

"No, you're coming with me. I'm red ranger and that's the end of discussion!" Ara stated.

"This isn't S.P.D. space acadamy. There are no ranks, and for your own safety, you're leaving," Jared insisted.

"Not without you. Think of your safety while you're thinking of mine," Ara replied.

"Ara,"

"Jared!"

"A married couple! Hahaha, I love it! I'll tell you what, I'll let you both go, but you must keep me entertained for three minutes. Do that and you'll both go home," the cat intruded happily.

"Butt out, ya devil cat!" Ara complained. She stared Jared down, not daring to look away. "Look, let's just do what he wants. He said he'll send us home, all we gotta do is entertain him for three minutes!"

"Honestly, what have _I_ done?" the cat asked offended.

"No, you're going home now!" Jared retorted, ignoring the cat.

"Be sensible," Ara tried, still fustrated.

"I agree, sensible," the cat commented calmly.

"Follow your own advice," Jared stated, again ignoring the cat.

"I am. It's only tree minutes!"

"Three minutes isn't long," the cat continued.

"Ara, you don't know what you're talking about!" Jared stated

"Jared, it's entertaining. We can sing a song, tell a joke, juggle, kick eachother stupid, it doesn't matter! Three minutes and we'll be home free!"

"True, I can be easily amused," the cat said lightly.

"Shut up!" Jared finally ordered the cat. "She's going home, I'm going to finish your task, then I'm going home, and neither one of us are coming back!" Jared stated.

"Quite offended I am, but not to worry. This is entertainment enough. Three minutes are up. You may go home," the cat's head motioned towards a warp that suddenly showed. Ara started walking to it, but was halted by a firm hand on her shoulder.

"What now? It's home. You wanted me to go home first, so let me go first,"

"It might be a trick," Jared stated back in his usual quiet voice.

"Oh give it a rest!" Ara said exasperated.

"Trust your knight, he only means the best," the cat said teasingly.

"Shut up, cat. This princess can save herself," Ara stated annoyed. Jared suddenly did something unexpected. He took Ara's hand firmly, but silent, and began walking to the warp, tugging her along lightly. It didn't take much for Ara to walk forward, but she was suprised none-the-less and felt her cheecks blush. They went through the portal, happily leaving the cat called Doesn't Matter, behind. They soon found themselves in the command center with four pairs of eyes on them.

"Ooooo," Kari toyed. Ara blushed again, and quickly let go of his hand. She noticed Jared looked away, back to his stone expression, and also let go of her hand just as quickly.

"Well, she sure brought him back alright," Sean teased.

"Shut up," Ara mumbled.


	15. RedBlack

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers or anything affiliated. Just my characters and plots. And yes, I did model Doesn't Matter after the sheshire cat in Alice and Wonderland.

So, how's it goin? swamped for me, school, dances, work, etc. Nyways, the updates continue. Yes, the pairing has begun and remember, many things in my stories do have a purpose, including the coupling. There is a little language, but that's why this is rated T. Happy Reading and comments are welcome! -Kai

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The silence was uncomfortable, everyone could tell that. Jared had mysteriously glided to the back of the group without notice, leaving Ara rooted where she was. "I thought you had something else to do," Ara commented to Sean.

"You've been gone for four hours. I did it, and came here as soon as I could," he explained lightly.

"So, nothing happened while we were gone?" Ara asked as casual as she could.

"Nothin. No signs of Dogun, Rexus, heck, not even a nator," Tamara reported.

"Somethin's up," Ara commented.

"What do you mean?" Sean asked. "Isn't it good there's no trouble?"

"Yeah, but they just temporarily got rid of one, if not two, rangers. They could've attacked and you guys would've had enough on your hands to keep you busy for a while. I want to know what they're up to," Ara stated.

"They're planning, so we have to plan too. You two made it back in good time. Now we can form a plan for the next time they attack," Matt finally offered.

"Oh you're just full of ideas. You expecting an attack soon?" Sean asked sarcastically. Matt gave him an evil glare back and Ara could tell this conversation was going sour, fast.

"Ok, and that's the end of that. With the rangers reunited let's go home, shall we?" Ara tried with a smile. "Thanks Sidira, we'll talk to you later," Ara looked at the others quickly. Kari and Tamara looked at Ara, then eachother, a little confused but teleported anyway. Sean gave Matt another evil look, but teleported as well.

"Thanks. I'll talk to you tomorrow," Matt said with a sigh. He teleported soon after Sean, leaving Jared and Ara alone, since Sidira had left somewhere without saying.

"Jared, about today.." Ara started. She was going to appologize for being so stubborn, but he cut her off.

"Will you go to Homecoming with me?" Jared suddenly asked. Ara just stared at him for a minute. Was he kidding? He was good looking alright; Ara couldn't help but blush a little when she looked into his deep dark eyes, but was he really asking her? It seemed she'd had a plague and asking her to a dance would mean the person asking would have gotten it too.

"Are you serious?" Ara asked slowly.

"Will you?" Jared repeated calmly. Ara thought for only a second. No one had asked her yet, and she doubted anyone ever would.

"Sure," she said with a smile. "I'd love to,"

"I'll pick you up at six-thirty; dance is at seven, ends at ten-thirty, and you'll be home by eleven," Jared stated in his in-charge voice.

"Ok," was all Ara could say. She was still stunned he was even asking her. He teleported home, leaving Ara to puzzle alone. Sidira came out, from hiding and Ara looked at her accusingly.

"You knew?" Ara asked seeming a little mad.

"No, but I had an idea," Sidira said with a sly smile.

"Hmph.. thanks," Ara said with a small smile. She teleported home and layed on her bed, thinking of the latest ranger social developments. She was going to homecoming and had a real date. For once she wouldn't have to resort to shying at home watching her Power Ranger re-runs and curling with a book she'd read dozens of times already. She went to bed sleepy. She'd been gone for only a few hours, but felt like a few days. She ate dinner alone that night and went to bed exhausted, ignoring the homework she knew she'd have to look forward to later in the weekend. The next day she went out to the park to train herself, still ignoring her homework. She did her usual warm ups of making plants, burning to the ground, dousing the fire with water and later creating weak imitations of nators. After an hour of warm ups, she moved on to harder tasks. She made a large ring of fire blaze around her, then she tried to put it out by covering the ring with soil, then dousing the soil with water. She managed to keep it undercontrol and eventually douse it, though it took longer than she'd hoped. Finally, she stood and climbed the slide and spread her arms. She hadn't forgotten the last time she'd tried to fly, but she refused to let the memory of the pain resurface. She took a deep breath, made a wind current rise and jumped. Her landing was soft, light, and safely on both feet, but it wasn't flying. Ara wasn't satisfied but no one was here to stop her this time. She climbed again, made a huge gust of wind come and, as she jumped, she glided from the slide to the swing-set several yards away. She smiled proudly as she realized her distance. A thought suddenly danced in her mind. If she couldn't fly, then for the time being, gliding would work. She ran to climb the slide again and stretched her arms wide. She summoned another gust of wind, as big as she could make it this time, and looked for a target to land on. She found a tree that she would be able to climb in a heart beat, if that what she was going to do. She took another deep breath and jumped, doing her best to hold the strong current. Just as she'd planned, she glided her way over to the tree and clug tightly to the top. She could feel the branches below her and without hesitation, climbed down safely and quickly. Just as she'd come down, she heard clapping in the distance. _Oh shoot. Someone saw me!_ Ara thought. She turned her head to see, to her relief, Jared was sitting on a near-by bench, clapping with an amused smile on his face. She turned around a full circle and found no one else was watching, so with a relieved smile, she walked over and sat next to him. "What are you doing here?" she asked politely.

"Came to train," Jared answered in his usual tone.

"Doesn't darkness work best in the dark?" Ara asked.

"Doesn't fire work best in flames, water in the water, earth in the earth and air in the air?" he asked.

"Well, I can't be in four places at once," Ara said with an assuring smile.

"Shame, but for the best I'm sure," he commented shortly.

"So, are you training or not?" she asked a little annoyed.

"I was. I got preoccupied," Jared flashed a smile and eyed her, making Ara know he was just playing.

"Then take the distraction away," she continued.

"I would, but people would talk," he answered almost sadly.

"Oh? About what, a kidnapping?" she asked sarcastically.

"I think they'd call it a date," he said with a sly smile.

"Jared, let's be straight. Are you going to stay and train, or not? I'll leave if you want," Ara offered.

"That's not necessary. I was just about finished anyway. I was simply on my way home when I saw you, leaping to your doom," he explained lightly.

"Great, an audience to my failures," she mused to herself. "So what are you doing now?"

"Talking more than I need to, to my leader," he said calmly. Ara gave a snort and folded her arms over her chest.

"Some leader. We've gotten no where," she said annoyed.

"On the contrary, you've changed me quite a bit," Jared commented thoughtfully. Ara blushed at his words as she recalled what she'd just said.

"I meant with Dogun, Rexus, and Sacul. They're all still loose and we have no idea what they're up to," she said as she sat down next to him.

"I'm sure you'll figure it out. You're a brilliant leader," he tried soothingly.

"Thanks, but you're wrong. If I were so brilliant I'd have figured what they wanted and at least started a plan," Ara sulked. She rested her head on her hands and elbows on her knees. She stared ahead darkly, taking a moment to think of what Dogun was searching for.

"Come," Jared suddenly commanded. Ara looked up to see Jared was standing and holding one hand out for her. She took it lightly and stood puzzled.

"What about talk?" Ara asked with a smile.

"Rumors are inevitable. Come," he tried again. He lead Ara by the hand to the swing set and motioned for her to sit, which she did. She held onto the metal chains and he began to push her lightly. "Now let's think. Dogun was at Kari's house first, searching for something. That's at the south end of town. Then he arrived at Maine North, the northern end of town, thus its name. If he attacks either the east or west end, we'll know his last target," Jared thought outloud.

"Yeah.. but he hasn't actually attacked. Actually, we've been the ones attacking, cause he's just appeared doing.. nothing really," Ara agreed swinging. "What if, he's looking for the power boost..?"

"Power boost?" Jared mused.

"Yeah. Something that increases our power and helps us destroy Rexus," Ara explained vaguely.

"I suppose, but then we would have to find it first, and we don't know what that 'it' is,"

"And we've come back to one of the many reasons why I'm such a bad leader," Ara said with a small smile. He'd stopped pushing her and she stopped the swing on her own so she could look at him as she talked.

"You are not a bad leader. You are a leader in training, who's getting her training via first hand experience. We all are," he stated.

"Why me?" Ara asked with a sad sigh.

"Why not you? You're strong, courageous, smart, and sweet," he explained in a light tone.

"Heh, I think a better answer would be, 'cause I'm a ranger dork who spreads a plague to anyone who dares ask me to a dance," Ara offered with a joking smile.

"Ah, you mean why did I ask you to the dance. Well, my answer stands. You are strong, courageous, smart, sweet, and quite beautiful if I may add," he said with a smile creeping on his face.

"I think someone's a little biased," Ara said with a smile.

"I think you're right, but not by much," he continued.

"Sean's right, you're perfect," Ara commented.

"Sean's an idiot," Jared stated in a more serious tone. Ara started laughing and Jared started chuckling. She'd never head Jared laugh, so a chuckle was close enough. Ara was about to say something when their morphers suddenly went off. Ara sighed as she looked at Jared.

"Count on evil to ruin the moment," Ara said with a sad smile. She pressed the button which opened the communication line. "Ara and Jared here. What's up?"

"There's a giant monster downtown wrecking havoc. I suggest you call the others and summon your zords," Sidira's voice stated.

"Right, thanks," Ara contacted the others and told them what was going on and it was quickly agreed they would all meet in town, already morphed and in zords. "Elemental Dragon!" Ara called professionally.

"Dark Lion!," Jared called, back in his usual tone. They morphed and summoned zords, ready to get into town. Ara and Jared arrived on the scene first and started attacking the monster with their zords. Ara's dragon gave a giant fire beam, but that didn't seem to affect the monster much. Jared's lion pounced and bit the monster's arm, hanging on tight. The monster flailed his arms wildly, stumbling back. Jared's zord let go as the monster fell backwards and the others came into view.

"Hey guys, just in time!" Ara called happily.

"How'd you two get here so early?!" Matt asked.

"Meh, we were just hangin' around. Let's combine and finish this!" Ara said confidently. The monster rose and the group combined their zords to form their megazord, except for Matt who conveniently had a full megazord of his own.

"So what's up for the attack list?" Tamara asked seeming pepped for the fight.

"No fire. Looks like melee attacks will have to do until we find out what this thing is," Ara instructed, making sure Matt heard on his speaker.

"Not to sound stupid but, what's a melee attack?" Kari asked.

"Melee is like fighting moves, like power punches and super-sized kicks," Sean explained also seeming energized.

"Actually, melee attacks are basic moves like a simple punch, kick, or even a sword attack. There's nothing super about them," Matt explained from his own zord.

"Fine, smart ass. Why don't you take the lead?!" Sean said really annoyed. Matt looked at Sean and Ara knew something had to be done soon.

"Lighten up, Sean. He was just correcting you so Kari doesn't get the wrong impression," Ara defended.

"Of course, defend the newb. Not surprising since you two are such good friends," Sean continued in a bitter tone.

"Sean, I swear, one more comment like that and I'll do a 'zordon' and isolate both of you until you become friends!" Ara stated.

"What? Ara you can't be serious.. You do that and he'll bite my head off, literally!" Matt exclaimed.

"I don't care. If he bites your head off we'll charge him with murder and take his power," Ara answered. "Now let's finish this monster. Samari's Sword!" A large katana sword was unsheathed and the rangers made the zord slash the monster in fourths, finishing the battle with a small explosion. Everyone got out of their zords and demorphed as a group before leaving for home. Kari and Tamara had left, and Jared gave Ara a quick nod with his head for his good-bye, not bothering a farewell to the others. Sean immediately went to Matt though and Ara could sense trouble.

"Look, brat, get in my way like that again and you'll regret it," Ara heard Sean threaten. She wished Jared, Tamara and Kari had waited before leaving, but they were gone and Ara was on her own for stopping this battle.

"Hey, not my fault you don't know what stuff is," Matt retorted. He was getting tired of Sean and Ara could see his hands turning into fists.

"Are you calling me dumb?" Sean asked as his lower half transformed quickly into a wolf form with tail and all.

"Don't need to, you're a perfect example!" Matt exclaimed. In an instant, Sean leaped onto Matt, tackling him with a wolf's jaw forming, ready to bite Matt.

"What the hell?! Get off him, Sean!" Ara uselessly yelled. Luckily, Matt was stronger than both Ara and Sean had anticipated, and threw Sean off himself slamming Sean into a tree.

"What were ya gonna do? Bite me? Guess what, you're not a werewolf buddy! There's not some curse if you bite me, just rabbies!" Matt antagonized. Sean was now in full wolf form and not caring who saw. He jumped again at Matt, but Matt ducked out of the way, grabbed Sean's tail and threw him a few yards away. Ara was through panicking by now. She made a tall line of fire between Matt and Sean in hopes it would stop them. Sean wasn't having it though. He started walking away but turned and ran, jumping through the fire quick enough not to get burned and leaped on Matt so he fell down. Matt wasn't down though and made a shield of light around his body like customized armor, making Sean only claw at a coushin that kept replenishing. Ara was impressed with Matt's skill at using his power, but she couldn't have this fight. She was figuring out how to make a vine grow to separate the boys again, but suddenly a huge dark claw came out and grabbed Sean off Matt, with a second one holding Matt in place. Ara turned her head to where the hands were coming from when she saw Jared coming back and controlling the arms as if they were his own. Ara let a sigh of relief pass before saying anything.

"Thank you Jared," was the first thing she said. "Sean you're an idiot," was the second, and "Matt, you're also an idiot," was the third. All three looked at her as she thought of what to do with them. True, she had threated to isolate them, but for how long would be a better question.

"What the hell did u do that for?!" Sean raged at Jared. "I was winning!"

"No you weren't I was!" Matt declared.

"You were both losing badly. Now, can I let you go or will you two be fighting again?" Jared asked calmly.

"Let us go!" Sean demanded.

"Don't, Jared. Knowing Sean he'll have another snap at Matt,"

"Would not!" Sean demanded.

"Would too!" Matt retorted.

"And Matt wouldn't hesitate to fight by now," Ara continued tensely over the arguing. Sean turned into a lion at Matt's fighting words and gave a deafening roar. If Ara thought the arguing was loud before, it was nothing compared to Sean's sudden roars of fury. "Jared, just send them both the to Abyss of Darkness!" Ara finally shouted.

"Ara, you know I can't do that," she clearly heard him state. She noticed he didn't seem to have a problem talking over Sean.

"Fine, then the Desert! Let them find their own way home!" Ara complained without thinking.

"That's suitable," Jared commented. Ara watched as he concentrated very hard and within a minute or two, a black-hole-looking warp appeared and Jared tossed both the lion and Matt into it. The warp closed and Ara looked at him in disbelief, while he wore a small smile of relief. She was half-joking when she recomended the desert and a new wave of worry rushed over her as she wondered how the two would fare without a referee.

"I didn't know you could teleport," she said, not quite ready to voice her worry.

"With my re-energization, I can. I'm far more powerful, and will be able to concentrate easier without those two killing eachother in front of us," he said lightly.


	16. The Pink Ranger

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers or anything affiliated to it. Just Ara and the characters of this story.

Sorry for the no post. I was busy and had horrible writers block. But my muse has inspired me once more to finish the chapter. Hopefully the next chapter will come quicker. Review if you want! -Kai

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A pink Hello Kitty sat mockingly on her desktop as its eyes moved back and forth corresponding to the seconds of time. Kari Henderson sat at her mahogany desk doing homework she had put off during most of her weekend. With another battle won she had no more excuses to put it off and worked tediously on the assignment due tomorrow. The essay was almost complete when she her morpher rang it's melodious tune. She answered it, thankful for the break.

"Kari, please come to the command center," Ara stated in a bit of a panic.

"What's up?" Kari asked curiously. She'd teleport whether Ara would answer her or not. It was one of the demands of being a ranger: always be ready to teleport.

"I think Jared and I just totally screwed up!" Ara's voice exclaimed.

"Speak for yourself," she heard Jared complain quietly.

"I'll be right there," Kari said sympathetically. She couldn't believe Ara had done too much damage so she had no real reason to panic. Kari teleported and found Ara walking in circles and taking furtive glances at the plasma viewing screen.

"Kari, help!" Ara begged.

"What's wrong Ara?" Kari asked gently.

"Jared sent Matt and Sean to the desert, alone, on my orders. I didn't think he could actually do it, but apparently he can and he just refuses to bring them back! They could kill eachother out there!" Ara panicked. Kari gave Jared a curious look, but he didn't seem to care.

"I've already told her to calm down since they wouldn't really murder each other, but she doesn't seem to believe me," he mused.

"Have you told Tamara yet?"

"Yes, and she's no help. She said she's busy, something about a family dinner," Ara complained. Kari knew Ara wasn't as irritated at Tamara as she sounded.

"It'll be fine. Sean can be mean, but he's not heartless. He wouldn't leave Matt all alone," Kari tried. Ara then pointed to the screen she had been glancing at every few seconds and saw Sean, alone, walking, then as Ara touched the screen, Kari saw Matt alone, walking. "Ok, so maybe he is. But they'll find a way back together. I mean, they are stranded in the desert," Kari tried again. Ara began hitting her head on a computer panel making Jared briskly walk over and put a hand on her forehead to stop her.

"You'll only do more damage. Please, be calm. This is what you wanted, for them to work things out on their own,"

"No, I wanted to force them to work together! This is not working together; this is split up and see who dies first!" Ara said fustratedly as she tried to move Jared's hand. He wouldn't budge, knowing she would simply go back to hitting her head. Instead he wrapped his other arm around to bring her close into a small hug and released her quickly into Kari who was just as unprepared as Ara was. Kari could only watch in small embarresment, feeling they ought to be alone when they do such things.

"Kari, help. What am I going to do?" Ara asked.

"Ara, breathe. You'll be fine, so will Sean and Matt. Matt's strong and can use his powers really well, so he'll be back soon. Sean is really good at shapeshifting, he can turn into a bird whenever he wants and he'll be back soon too," Kari tried. This seemed to help Ara a bit. Her body relaxed a little in Kari's clusmy arms as she turned to the plasma screen.

"I guess," she answered in a small voice.

"Now, let's not worry about Sean and his wish to kill Matt. Let's instead worry about Dogun, Master Rexus and Sacul. They are surely a greater concern," Jared suggested without much thought. Ara turned out of Kari's arms and began hitting her head against the computer's panel again, this time making Sidira come and stop her with her own power.

"Ara, I suggest you stop before you do yourself serious damage," Sidira said as she entered the room. Ara stopped hitting her head and turned to hear what Sidira was saying. "Dogun has been seen near the Lexington Theatre. I suggest you call Tamara and see what he's up to," Sidira said.

"Aw man, and we're two rangers down! This is all my fault," Ara exclaimed.

"Come, it won't be too hard. I'm sure, he'll just turn tail as usual," Jared tried.

"Yeah, but what if he doesn't? What if he keeps attacking cause he suddenly gets the power boost?" she asked dismally.

"Power boost?" Kari asked.

"That's what she thinks they're after," Jared answered lightly.

"Oh ok. Well let's go. The sooner we get there, the better chance we get the power boost," Kari tried.

"I shall monitor your progress from here," Sidira commented.

"Healer!" Kari called first.

"Darkness," Jared called.

"Elemental!" Ara called. They teleported and Ara took role as leader against Dogun. "What do you think you're doing?!" Ara demanded.

"Aha! This is it!" Dogun announced more to himself than anyone.

"Is what?!" Ara demanded.

"Master, I believe I have found the source!" Dogun announced in a small communicator. Ara looked at Jared and Kari nervously, merely make sure they had heard the same thing.

"Excellent. Bring it to me! With the new source I shall crush those rangers!" they heard Master Rexus answer.

"Sidira, is what he saying true?" Ara asked.

"I don't believe so, but I wouldn't let them know it. If they believe they have the power, let them think it. It shall allow us time to find the real power," Sidira answered.

"Right," Ara responded. She gave a jerk of her head and the group took out their weapons and charged. Ara unleashed a fireblazing whip to begin with Kari and Jared heading in. Dogun wasn't having it though. He fell from Ara's whip, entirely dodging Kari and Jared's attacks, but once he got up, he went straight back to work.

"Not now, rangers!" he stated. A bunch of nators came down ready to attack. Ara looked hard at the group of approaching enemies.

"Ara, what do we do?" Kari asked nervously. She didn't like the nators, they looked too strange and zombie like to her.

"We finish the nators and wait for Tamara, Sean, and Matt," she whispered to her friends.

"If you say so," Jared muttered loud enough for at least Kari to hear. The group split up and each took a group of nators. Kari was proud when she finished when she took out twelve nators on her own. Ara, she noticed discouragingly, took out a whopping twenty, and Jared took out sixteen of his own. When the nators were gone, Dogun had finished his chant and dance and seemed to be waiting for something.

"What are you doing now?!" Ara called to him.

"Uh, master. I'm starting to think it's not here," Dogun said outloud.

"What?! Dogun you idiot, you promised me!!" Master Rexus's voice raged.

"I'm sorry Master, all the signs pointed to here!" Dogun said in a febel panic.

"You idiot!!" A large green cloud came out of thin air and zapped Dogun so strong that he dissappeared within seconds. The three lone rangers stared at where Dogun once stood. _He just.. he just destroyed him.. If he can do that to Dogun what can he do to us..?_ Kari thought in fear.

"Well, I guess that took care him. Let's go home.." Ara tried in a commanding voice. Kari dutifully followed Ara and Jared back to the command center where Sidira was waiting.

"I'm sorry you all had to see that," Sidira said in a gentle voice.

"I.. I don't think I wanna be a ranger anymore," Kari said in a small voice.

"What? You're kidding!" Ara protested.

"No, I'm not. Ara, after what Master Rexus did to Dogun.. He didn't even need to be there to destroy him! If he's that strong.. We're fighting a battle we can't win. I'm sorry Ara, but my parents would kill me if I died," Kari said with a weak smile. Ara looked infuriated, but also a bit sad. When Kari finally had the courage to turn her head, she saw Sidira standing still with an understanding expression, as if she knew exactly what Kari was talking about, while Jared looked indifferent. It was a while before anyone broke the silence. Ara finally gave a long, deep sigh, making Kari look at her friend once again.

"Fine, you want out, go ahead. Keep the morpher, though; in case you change your mind," Ara stated. Her voice wasn't commanding, or angry as Kari had expected. It was sad and filled with regret and Kari knew Ara was sorry her friend was leaving the team, which only made her feel worse about her decision.

"Alright, thank you for understanding. I guess I'll see you later," Kari teleported home where her homework waited. She finished the rest of her homework by five and took small glances at her Hello Kitty Clock which still mocked her. It now ignored time and seemed to be shaking its eyes in dissapproval. "Oh give it a rest!" she whispered angrilly. She went downstairs and made herself dinner. At six her parents came home from their dinner party. They asked how her day went and she told them fine. After all, besides the kicking herself off a team, watching a monster get destroyed and two people get lost in a dessert, it did go alright.

The next morning, Kari went to church. She'd been going for the past three months with her family, however, most of the time they'd been switching between churches. She walked in, greeted the greeters and sat down on the end as her parents filed in. The service was about an hour and everything seemed calm. As she walked out though, a strange creature flew by, making a bird-like shadow streak by. Kari looked up and saw a bird creature circle above and land in the street.

"Ahahaha! This has to be the place! The power has to be here!" the bird creature said loudly to himself. "Filthy humans, you will all dig until we have found the ancient power!" Everyone in the area started running in a panic. Kari's parents grabbed Kari by the hand, and began running in a direction, but Kari wouldn't have it. She knew better. The bird creature cut everyone off with a deafening screech which stopped everyone in their steps. Kari was glad she'd fought her parents to stay where they were. Everyone took cover, some hid, most were imprisoned. Kari waited until ther was so much chaos that no one was paying attention and teleported to the command center.

"Sidira! Help!" She shouted without thinking. Sidira was already there, looking at the scene, when she turned with a look of surprise on her face.

"Kari, I thought you were there, fighting,"

"Me? On my own? No way, they'll kill me! I gave up being a ranger, remember?"

"Yes, I remember. I believe Ara hoped you would change your mind though, which why she asked you to keep your morpher,"

"My morpher..." Kari looked at her morpher in amazement. She took it off that night when she went to bed, but in the morning she put it back on. She'd had a feeling of loss when she took it off and instantly seemed to feel better the moment she put it back on. She'd left it on all day, even through church at the complaint of her parents.

"Ah, it seems the others have arrived," Sidira noted. Kari turned to see Jared, Ara and Tamara morphed and fighting. Jared was busy destroying nators, Tamara was rescuing the trapped people and Ara take fighting the monster on her own, and losing.

"She's gonna get so hurt, Tamara should be healing her, the people are safe for now with the monster and nators distracted," Kari stated.

"Yes, but Ara believes saving people's lives is more important than saving her own, so she would not hesitate to order Tamara to help the people first, and Tamara knows not to disobey Ara's orders,"

"Yeah, I guess,"

"So, Kari, the question is, what will you do?"

"I.. I want to figt, but they're too strong. Matt and Sean would have to come if we had a chance,"

"Then perhaps you should go find them,"

"But they're in the desert. They could be anywhere,"

"I have faith you will find them,"

"But why didn't they just teleport if they wanted to be found?"

"Unforutnately Jared made it difficult for them to teleport. They will need to hold on to you if I am to teleport them home,"

"Alright then, they gotta come back, so I guess I'll do it," Kari stated trying to convince herself more than Sidira. She looked at Sidira who nodded with and smile and pressed the button on her morpher to teleport. Within seconds, Kari was in the desert, alone, and suddenly she'd packed a pack of ice with her. Kari started walking in a direction, keeping an eye out for Matt or Sean. It wasn't long before she found Matt, alone and lying in the sand, sprawled on his back. "Matt?! Matt, talk to me, please," Kari called as she ran to his seemingly life-less body. As Kari neared him, he began to stir. She watched as he curled onto his side and groan.

"Five more minutes, mom," he mumbled. Kari couldn't help but smile as he complained.

"Matt, wake up," Kari said in a gentle voice. He groaned again and sat up, blinking as his eyes adjusted to the hot, bright sun.

"Kari?" He yawned. "Where'd you come from? And why does my head hurt so bad?" He asked. Kari looked at his head and saw a patch of red against his usual light brown, near the top where he was reaching.

"Oh Matt!" she gasped. "Hold still, I'll heal you right now," she ordered. She concentrated with all her might and gently laid her hands over his head. A pink haze covered her hands and his head, which healed him within a full slow minute.

"Hey, my head doesn't hurt anymore, thanks!" He stated with a smile. Kari simply smiled in response. "So, where's Sean and Jared? I've got a little pay back to dish out," He said in a suddenly fierce voice.

"Well, Sean is still somewhere around here, and Jared's back home with Ara and Tamara. Oh Matt, it's so horrible! They your help, yours and Seans! They were losing so badly, outnumbered like a zillion to one!"

"So why are you here instead of helping them?"

"Well, I.. I sorta gave up being a ranger.." Kari said sheepishly.

"You gave up the power? And Ara accepted it?" Matt asked in disbelief.

"Well, yeah.. I.." Kari trailed off. Matt shook his head, but didn't say anything against it. He stood up, now seeming rejuvinated.

"Where are you going?" Kari asked.

"Well, we gotta find Sean, if you said Ara needs us, right?" Matt confirmed. Kari nodded and followed him dutifully.

"So how are we gonna find him?" Kari asked.

"Oh, I've known where he is for a while. I doubt he's left," Matt answered with a smug smile. Kari looked at him with a puzzled look, but continued to follow. They trecked the desert for a while, until finally Kari saw a bright light. They moved closer to the light and Kari saw the light created a ring of pink bars that appeared to keep Sean trapped in. "He stepped where he shouldn't have, after I told him so, and this is what he got," Matt explained lightly.

"Sean, are you ok?" Kari asked.

"No, I'm starved, get me outta here!" Sean yelled angrilly. Kari shook her head in disbelief. _Same old Sean.._ she thought. Kari looked around, trying to understand what was keeping him inside.

"It's a _pink_-aura-bar-cage," Matt explained. "Since you're the pink ranger, perhaps you can absorb the energy and release him," Kari gave him a small look of annoyance, but didn't say anything against the suggestion. She looked hard at the pink bars, and concentrated. After a moment the pink bars swirled around her and absorbed into her body. After another moment, the pink aura was gone and only Sean, Matt, and the sandy desert was left.


	17. Return

Disclaimer: Hey, again, I don't own Power Rangers or anything affiliated to it!

How is everyone? Me? I'm in college, so I guess that speaks for itself! Had a 12:30 am fire drill so I decided "Since I"m up, might as well upload that chapter," So here it is, a nice filler and set up for my next chapter! R&R s are always welcome!-Kai

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Ara was tired and dead on her feet. The civilians in the 3 mile radius were evacuated and safe, that was good. The fact that the monster just would not quit was bad, very bad. Tamara had done a good job of evacuating everyone in a timely fashion, and when she was done Ara immediately had her go help Jared with the nators. Now she regretted that decision and was almost hoping she would disobey and come to help her, even if Jared was sinking under all the nators. Ara once again rose to her feet, clutching her pistol in her right hand, taking the brief moment to deliberate what to do. She was three team mates down and losing the ability to stand each time Enza shot a supersonic blast at her. Ara charged Enza, choosing to try attacking Enza's chest again, even if it did fail the last five attempts. Ara ran forward, used an air current to jump higher than an average jump, and shot her pistol at the creature, using her control of the elements to shoot fire like a blowtorch. Enza screamed in fury, making Ara smile and know she'd done some damage, but evidently it was not enough. Ara landed swiftly trying to figure out what to do next. Direct attacks were not enough to roast this bird, she had to be creative, but seeing as the battle seemed to drag, creative was not in large supply right now.

Ara looked to her two other team mates and tried to judge wether or not to pull one of them from the nators to help her. She decided she wouldn't. They were doing well and if keeping them together would mean a quicker finish of nators, so be it. _I can do this. I can last a lot longer, I know I can. I didn't take martial arts for nothing, right?_ Ara turned back to her opponent just in time to see a beak rush to her and hit. Ara was hit, hard. Apparently as she was deliberating whether or not to ask for help, Enza was deliberating the best form of attack. Enza's attack was strong and made Ara fall to the ground in a gush of sparks flying from her ranger uniform. She looked fearfully through her tinted visor, to Jared and Tamara, now willing to ask for help if they were still doing ok. However they were not. Apparently evil was more intelligent in real life than tv, and more nators were being sent to the seen and overwhelming even the two rangers.

"Sidira!" Ara called desparetly through her communicator. "A little help? We're getting out butts kicked, and I'm thinking it's just a little too late to retreat,"

"You got that right sister!" Enza cackled. Ara simply glared as she waited for a response from Sidira.

"I'm sorry Ara, all the help I can give you has already been sent," Sidira said in a seemingly not sorry voice.

"Great!" Ara muttered in a sarcastic whisper. She kept her glare at Enza who was slowly approaching to finish her off. Ara closed her eyes, hoping the finish would be swift, but a loud noise made her open them again in shock. The first thing she saw was Sean, leaping in as a large, green lion. The second thing she saw was Matt, morphed in his silver ranger form and riding on Sean's back. The third thing she saw was Kari, morphed in her pink ranger form and also riding on Sean's back.

"Ara!" Kari called in worry. Kari jumped off Sean and ran to Ara's side, already warming up to heal Ara the instant they made contact. Within seconds, a wave of relief rushed over Ara. She watched Sean buck Matt off and immediately rush to Tamara's aid who was being swallowed by more nators. Matt landed on his feet and ran to be between Ara and the monster.

"So, what'd we miss?" Matt asked lightly.

"Just a butt kicking," Ara answered. She tried to sound joking, however, she still wasn't healed enough to keep her tone light. Kari soon finished and all three faced Enza. "Ok, now you're through, Enza!" Ara called.

"Enza? Now that's a stupid name!" Matt stated, obviously trying to get on the creature's nerves.

"Shut up! You think just because your numbers have grown you'll suddenly defeat me. Well think again!" Enza sent a loud high-pitched sonic wave at them and all three had to cover their ears. Enza then swooped in to attack, but Matt was quicker. He was the first to uncover his ears and charge the monster with his sword. With one strong swipe of his blade, he forced Enza back and stood in an offensive stance.

"I can't believe you couldn't beat this thing, Ara, I'm very disappointed," he joked.

"Yeah, stupid me. I seemed to have wasted all my power on nators and drawing out the battle for ya," Ara tried. It took a few minutes but Ara was healed back to near perfect health. She looked at Kari for a moment before she could say anything more. "Thanks, _pink ranger_," she finally said, truely grateful.

"Heh, no problem," she answered slightly embarressed. Kari and Ara lined up with Matt and stared Enza down. "You're gonna pay for messing with my friends!" she announced.

"Alright Kari!" Tamara called as she came running with Sean and Jared. All six lined up, and took out a set of weapons.

"Ready, Aim, Fire!" the group said together. The weapon fired and a huge energy beam, destroying Enza for good.

"Nice!" Tamara stated happily.

"Sweet!" Sean joined.

"Way to go team!" Matt congradulated.

"Oh, welcome back Kari!!" Ara hugged Kari happily until Kari gently pushed Ara away.

"Thanks, and Ara, I'm sorry I quit on you,"

"Hey, no worries Kari, I knew you'd come back. Once a ranger, always a ranger!" Ara said brightly. Kari smiled, and the girls group hugged while the boys hung back, claiming to be too manly to hug.


	18. Sacrifice

Disclaimer: I do not own anything affiliated to Power Rangers except this fanfic.

So, what's up? I got this chapter up sooner didn't I? yay me! Ok, so I beta'd this chapter with my bro, Matt, and he said it was great, so here goes nothing! R&R if you want, I won't hold my breath though.. Have fun! Kai

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_At last, peace has been restored. Well, for the most part. At least we've got Matt and Sean back from the desert, and Kari's back to being a ranger, and we're all still techniquelly friends._ Ara thought to herself. She laid in bed just like any other night thinking of the day's events. Relief washed through her entire body. Many things that plagued her mind for the last several days have now been lifted and were disappearing into nothingness.

In the morning Ara got up and dressed for school. Mondays were supremely boring, whether there was a monster attack or not. Ara met her friends as soon as she arrived and then went to class at the bell. She walked with Matt and Kari and they parted when Kari went to her seperate class. She and Matt sat and passed notes during the class, quietly laughing or smiling as they imagined their teacher as a monster. Math kept her busy and she used her free period to catch up on her homework due next period. After school she met up with the other rangers and they each trained downstairs, working on different work out machines and running a few laps. The rangers departed around 6, leaving Ara to walk home alone. She didn't live far and walked home every now and then when her parents couldn't pick her up, such as tonight. The alley she chose was dark, with the street lights only flickering on every once in a while. Ara continued, knowing this was not unusual. A strange beacon suddenly shown, Ara watched in slight amazement, realizing it probably wasn't good.

"Great, shouldn't I be running from the light?" she asked as she started towards it. It didn't take long to arrive at the end, and it wasn't a surprise what she saw. Two dozen nators stood in front of her with a monster at the head.

"You are to come with us, red ranger," the monster declared. This surprised Ara, greatly, how did _he_ know she was the red ranger?

"I don't think so," Ara declared back as she clenched her fists. She was ready for this, she'd trained her butt off today and she was ready to fight. The nators attacked as she'd predicted. Ara flung her backpack carelessly to the ground and charged the nators. She was strong, that was true, she took out seven as they surrounded her and was already working on the next wave when the monster grabbed her hands from behind. "Damn!" she cursed as she closed her eyes and felt herself being teleported to her enemy's lair. When she opened her eyes again, she saw herself in a metal cage, that seemed to be just her size and a bright light that appeared to be hovering over the cage, making only the area around her light enough to see.

"Welcome red ranger," she heard a voice call. It was booming, commanding, and even a little taunting.

"Let me outta here," Ara demanded.

"Of course, this was simply for precaution," the voice continued. She heard a snap of fingers and the cage suddenly dissappeared from around her.

"Uh, thank you?" she said a little puzzled.

"You're quite welcome. I'm sure you're wondering why I've brought you here," the voice said lightly. Ara thought for only a moment, it didn't take long for her to guess what was happening.

"Well, it's either because you want me to do evil, so you'll put a spell on me or something to make me do your bidding, or you just want to capture me so the others are one ranger short," Ara thought logically.

"I'm impressed red ranger, you're very close. You see, it's quite simple. I have a small someone you may wish to have around, or that is, two small someones," the voice stated politely. With another snap of fingers, a bright light shone on another cage, a little bigger than Ara's, and with two people.

"Ara! Honey, is that you?" Ara heard a woman cry. Immediately she recognized the voice and saw the face that matched it.

"Why are you doing this? What do you want?" Ara asked, now infuriated that she was being blackmailed.

"Easy. I want you, to destroy the power; you know, let me, Master Rexus, take your world, enslave the human race, yada yada yada. The usual," he said lazily.

"Man, you can't ever be creative. Always trying to destroy the world," Ara tried to sound bored, but she was sure the concern for her parents showed.

"Oh but I will be. Once you help me," he answered happily.

"So am I supposed to believe if I just do as you say, you'll let 'em go?" Ara continued.

"You have no choice my dear," he answered dangerously. Suddenly a scream was heard and Ara watched her mother rise from the cage and a sword appear, with the blade pointed at her.

"Help me!!!" she heard her mother scream.

"Fine!" Ara said hastily. "Do you hear me? I said I'll do it!"

"That's what I like to hear," Master Rexus said happily. Ara watched her mother be gently put back in the cage and the sword dissappear. "All I want you to do is attack the city tomorrow after school," he stated plainly.

"Hmph, why wait for after school? Why not right away?" Ara asked disgusted. She couldn't believe she was asking such a thing.

"You're still a young lady, and education is very important," he answered. "Now be a good little ranger and don't mention this to your little ranger friends, or to your useless Sidira,"

"Right, like I'm gonna tell them: Hey guys, I'm gonna betray you tomorrow, be ready," Ara answered, unhappy that he thought of it already.

"Oh you very well may, my dear, which is why I'm telling you not to," he stated. Ara could swear he was smiling as he spoke those words.

"Fine," Ara stated. She heard one last snap and was teleported back to the same alley she was taken from, and found her backpack lying in the same spot she flung it in earlier. Ara picked it up lazily, and for some reason, it seemed heavier than before, as if someone had dumped a ton of rocks inside while she was gone. Ara finally made it home and called for her family as if she was expecting them to jump out and say it was all a joke. She was met with dissappointment, with the realization that her family was staying in a cage in the clutches of Master Rexus. Ara ate dinner, got dressed for bed, watched some power rangers television and finally went to sleep. It had been a long a day.

In the morning, Ara went to school and planned as she met with her ranger friends. She was quiet, and did her unfinished homework, then went to class, walking unusually quick and not waiting for Matt and Kari. In class Matt passed Ara a note and Ara had no choice but to read it, after he sent five more with the same message.

_What's up?_ he wrote.

_Nothing._ Ara wrote back.

_Don't lie. We're rangers. What's up?_

_I can't tell you._

_Come on, sis, you can tell me anything._

_Not this time bro._ Ara passed the note and gave an appologetic look. The teacher seemed to catch this look, however, and was not pleased.

"Is there something you and Mr. Sullivan would care to share?" the teacher asked Ara.

"Uhm... uh," Ara stammered embarressed. Ara was about to say 'no' when Matt stood up.

"Why can't you tell me?" he asked for the whole room to hear. Ara looked at him with anger, wondering why he was bringing ranger business to the classroom.

"I just can't, ok?" Ara answered quietly.

"Why not? We tell eachother everything," Matt demanded. The teacher seemed to have no problem with their conversation, he sat on a nearby desk and watched as Ara and Matt discussed.

"It's complicated," Ara answered.

"Who could understand better than me?" Matt continued.

"Dr. O, alright?" Ara gave a meaningful look and Matt seemed to understand. He sat down and gave an appolegetic look to the teacher. The teacher went back to the front and the class continued. When the bell rang to dismiss the class Ara raced out of the room and sat in her desk quickly. She opened her text book and looked as if she was trying to understand the day's lesson.

"Spill," Matt stated as he took his seat next to her.

"There's nothing I can spill," Ara stated fustrated.

"Come on, please Ara, when you're in trouble we all are," Matt tried. Ara heaved a sigh and looked at him.

"Sorry," Ara said quietly. After that, the class began. Ara did her best not to look at Matt, but she could tell there was something eating at him and the majority was her fault. After class she raced to the library and worked on homework. Even if she was going to betray her friends it didn't mean she had to get behind in school work. The rest of the day went somwhat quickly. She'd mapped out her plan to know how not to hurt people during her attack during her lunch period. After school Kari caught up with her and Ara did her best to dodge Kari's questioning as to why she wasn't going to Cartooning Club.

"But Ara..." Kari whined.

"I'm sorry, I just can't," Ara answered flatly. She raced to drop her things off at her locker and went outside. She knew where everyone would be, so attacking would be no problem. She went outside and stood on the rooftop. "Show time," she whispered. "Elemental!" Ara morphed into her red ranger form and began shooting at a building where supposedly no one ever was. It was an old home economics building that was out of date and going to be torn down anyway. The heat from her pistol, however, made the stoves explode which caused a chain reaction in the rest of the building. Sure enough, the other rangers came out morphed to see what all the commotion was.

"Ara?! Is that you?!" Kari asked in disbelief.

"No way! So this is what you meant," She heard Matt say.

"Ara, what are you doing?!" Sean called out. Ara couldn't respond, she didn't have it in her to call back how sorry she was. She shot Kari in the chest, then Tamara, then Sean, then Jared. She looked at Matt before she shot him, and she could see the hurt expression beneath his helmet, but she kept her face cold and shot him just as she did the others.

She jumped down and said in the coldest voice she possibly could, "Tag, you're it," Ara ran for it then, doing her best to get away from the general public, to try and show there was _some_ good still in her. Ara finally stopped at an open field with power lines around and watched as the other rangers appeared.

"Ara, come on, what do you think you're doing?" Tamara asked. Ara shot her in the chest as she took a step closer. The others helped her up and held her back a little.

"Come on Ara, this isn't you. You're a ranger, Sidira chose you for a reason," Sean tried. He didn't step foward, but he did reach a hand out. Ara shot her pistol at his wrist.

"Ara," Jared tried. It was just her name, but she could feel him reaching towards her with his soundless words. Ara shot at his feet, making everyone realize she wasn't kidding. Ara snapped her fingers and bunch of nators appeared. They were her clay nators made from water and dirt, but she seemed to have created them easier than before. Ara made the nators attack the rangers, but Matt broke through too easily. He charged Ara and pinned her to the ground.

"Have you gone evil? Is this what you mean by only Dr. O being able to understand?" he asked almost derranged.

"No," Ara answered simply.

"No, you're not evil or no, Dr. O wouldn't be the only one to understand?" Matt continued.

_Finish it!_ a familiar voice growled in her head. _Mommy and Daddy are waiting..._ Ara mustered as much strength as she could and flug Matt off her, into a patch of grass a few feet away. She got up and pointed her pistol at Matt as soon as she could and gave a small nodd.

"No," Ara repeated shortly. She shot Matt in the chest and summoned her souregnad weapon. She aimed quickly and fired as soon as she could. Her old team had no chance. Sean, Jared and Tamara ducked quickly. Kari, however, was a little slow and recieved a full blast, causing her to demorph.

"Kari!" Tamara yelled. Tamara immediately went over to heal her, while Matt struggled to stand and go to her as fast as he could. Ara watched as the team gathered around Kari, leaving Ara an easy escape. Ara walked backwards until she hit the teleportation warp back to Master Rexus's lair.

"I did what you said, now let them go," Ara commanded.

"Uhm, no. You see, you are quite the asset to my little army, and your friend Mathew, he is quite powerful.

"You are not dragging him into this! I won't let you drag anyone else into this!" Ara stated angrilly.

"But I'm afraid it's not your choice to make," he laughed.

"Screw this! You have no power!" Ara stated.

"Oh, but I do!" Rexus stated, suddenly in command. He turned a light on and a sword came at her this time. Thankfully, Ara dodged it in time and stood up before she said anything.

"Do what you want, I'm not playing this anymore!" Ara stated angrilly.

"Oh, I think you will," Suddenly ninteen more swords appeared, all pointed to Ara. Ara's eyes widened in worry, but her expression soon turned to determination. She grit her teeth and stood her ground.

"I'm not doing this," Ara answered. She morphed without a word and braced herself for the swords that came soon after. Ara held her scream as long as she could, but inevitably, it came. A long, blood-curling scream let out and she demorphed unwillingly before she even hit the ground. Ara looked up, slowly, and saw the swords aimed at her again, red blood dripping off the ends.

"You next task is to destroy the rangers for good, except for that Matt character. Your silver ranger friend would be useful and I want him next," Master Rexus instructed.

"No," Ara answered coldly. The swords came at her again and another scream pierced the darkness. This continued for several hours: Master Rexus demanded, Ara refused, then Ara would be speared with the same twenty swords. Finally Ara was lying on her stomach, now dulled to the pain and too weak to answer anything.

Master Rexus laughed at Ara as he sent another wave of swords at her. She screamed in mindless reaction, but didn't bother getting up. _He's enjoying himself too much_. Ara thought to herself._ Man, I wish I could stand, if I could just stand, or even talk. But I can't even do that!_ Master Rexus laughed again and sent another wave of swords. "I suppose I should let you go home to rest. You will need your energy for tomorrow," he said happily. He teleported Ara home where she rested on her bed painfully. Ara couldn't even bring herself to her computer or phone to talk to anyone.

In the morning, classes continued. Ara limped to school and went to class. Matt glared at her through most of the first two periods, but every now and then she caught a glimpse of worry. Kari wasn't in school, and Ara couldn't blame her. She'd taken a full hit of the souregnad blaster, and it was all Ara's fault. This time she was too sluggish to escape to the library on time for her free period and Matt caught her just as she left the room of their second class together.

"What's going on?" he demanded.

"What do you mean?" Ara asked timidly as she continued to the library.

"What do I mean? I mean you go totally psycho yesterday, nearly anhailating us, and today you're limping as if you got the worst end of the battle. What's up?" Matt demanded. Ara took a deep sigh. It would kill him to know her motive behind her attack, but he'd find out eventually and she didn't need her parents getting the same punishment she got because she failed in at least attempting to recruit him. She lead him to an empty part of the school and sat down, grateful for a chance to stop walking.

"Master Rexus has my parents, he nearly killed me yesterday, and now he wants you," Ara explained shortly. Matt stared at her and she could tell she needed to explain more. She took heaved another sigh before continuing. "He took my parents, and was going to hurt them if I didn't do as he said. _Actually_ he said he wanted me to destroy the Power. Obviously I didn't. I couldn't, Matt, I just couldn't. The Power stands for everything I believe in. So yesterday, after I left, he told me to recruit you," Ara looked at Matt to guage his reaction. He was stunned, so she decided to continue anyway. "I told him no, over and over. I wasn't going to drag you into this, I swore to myself I wouldn't. Then he brought out the swords and they just.. they just shot out,": Ara let an involuntary shudder run through as she remembered last night, then she let out a low, harsh chucke. "After the first several waves, I swore again I wouldn 't let you join. I wouldn't even give you the chance to say yes, cause if you did, you'd go through the same thing I was going through," Ara looked him straight in the eye with a look of convction. "When he was done, I couldn't even stand. Master Rexus teleported me to my _room_ that night! He knows where I live, Matt, he took my family, he made me hurt my friends. I wouldn't let you go through that, even if he threatened me with a million more waves of swords," Ara stated.

"Ara, I.. I had an idea, but.. Wow, your family. Ara, I wish, I mean, now it really makes sense. I guess you're right, that Tommy would know about this, him and David," Matt stumbled. Ara concentrated on not being reminded of her family in peril.

"Matt he knows you're the silver ranger. He said he wanted 'your friend matt, the silver ranger'. He'll come after you next if you're not careful, and there may be nothing I can do. I can't just follow you home and stay with you, we both know that. So stay alert, just watch out and just, yeah.. All that stuff," Matt staggered and sat down as he processed this new information. Ara couldn't help but watch carefully, afraid she'd gone too far.

"So, is there no hope?" Matt asked helplessly.

"There has to be, I've been working on it all night, thinking about it. We have to betray the rangers, Matt," Ara answered darkly.

"Ara, I can't believe you just suggested that. We can't betray them, that's the worst we can do!"

"I did it," she stated sadly.

"I know you did, and the others hate you for it. Tamara's mad as hell at you, Sean is furious, Kari's so confused, and Jared's in denial!"

"And you?" Ara asked sadly.

"I...I'm..." Matt stammered uselessly as he sat down.

"Yeah, I figured as much," Ara answered sadly. "Matt, you're my brother, so I'd think you of all people would understand when I say, I'm not going to let this continue for long. No matter how it ends, it's going to end. No matter what."

"Ara, I.."

"Look, I'm going to tell Master Rexus you said no thanks and I'm gonna do my damnedest to keep him from coming after you or the others," Ara stated.

"And if that doesn't work?"

"Then you'll have to join me in a sabatoge," Ara flashed a dangerous smile and Matt couldn't help but smile when she did.

"This never happened in our rp," he chuckled.

"Oh? Blackmail, take over the world, kill the innocent,good ranger goes bad.. Yeah none of that in our roleplays," Ara responded sarcastically.

"Ok, I guess was, but still. It wasn't like this," Matt said a little more serious.

"Yeah, I'll agree to that. This all seemed fun at the time," Ara commented. The bell rang, signaling it was time for the next class. Matt looked at Ara who seemed to put on a poker face. "Go to class and act normal around the others. Be pissed at me like you're supposed to. Complain that I have the gaul to ask you to join me and the evil side. It'll all work out in the end, ok bro?" Matt nodded his head seriously and the two departed for class.


	19. Advice

Hey! Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Things have apparently taken a little turn in real life and in the story. Love does crazy things.Kai

Disclaimer: Do I have to say it? Yes? Ok.. I do not own Power Rangers or anything affiliated. My story is merely for fun!

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Matt trudged to class slowly, thinking carefully of the new events. Ara was already being blackmailed by Master Rexus and apparenlty he was next. All Master Rexus wanted was for Matt to join him and Ara in destroying and world and the other rangers, but he wouldn't do that. He was surprised Ara had played the part of evil so well, but he was glad she wasn't entirely gone. She was doing what she could to save her family, but also making sure he evil deeds weren't too evil. Anyone could understand that, especially him with his psychic mind reading abilities. Granted they weren't that good, he could only get the gist of what someone was thinking, unless he was completely in tune with them, in which he could pick up almost everything the person was thinking. In Ara's case, he could see she was thinking of when she attacked them and how sorry she was and how much she thought they could dodge her fake attacks.

Matt went to his science class in deep thought and sat down. Sean was in his class, and as usual, he arrived late. Oddly enough, though, he sat down next to Matt. They got a few stares, but wasn't bothered very much since their class work kept them all busy. Afterwards, Matt got up quickly, eager to get to lunch as soon as possible; he was starved. Sean seemed to sense this and got up as well, following quickly behind Matt.

"Matt!" Sean called. Matt knew he had no chance of avoiding Sean, especially since they were fellow rangers, so he turned and waited for Sean to catch up.

"Yeah? What's up?" Matt asked casually.

"Hey man, let's you and me take a little walk, eh?" Sean asked. It wasn't a question, but Matt answered it like one.

"Aw, man, I'm starved. Just lemme grab some lunch and we can talk," Matt tried.

"Yeah, you can grab lunch in a bit. We gotta talk." Sean stated, a little more seriously. He steered Matt through the hall and down a flight of stairs where Tamara and Jared were waiting. All three cornered him, but Matt wasn't worried. He was positive he knew what they were going to ask him.

"What's up with Ara? I saw her today and she looked pretty banged up, but from what I remember we were the ones who got our butts kicked!" Tamara demanded.

"What makes you think I know what's going on with that girl?" Matt asked. He tried to sound mad at the thought, but could tell he wasn't doing a good job.

"Because you two are like brother and sister. You two tell each other everything. So why would she not tell you her plans?" Sean asked.

"Maybe because she's not what she used to be?" Matt continued. He smiled inside when he saw the infuration roll off the group's faces, but kept his face stern.

"I saw you two talking. Tell us what she said." Jared finally inputed. Matt stared at Jared for a moment, trying to decipher what he was thinking, while Jared was doing the same to him. Matt sighed as a sign of surrender.

"She wanted me to join her in destroying the Power." Matt explained softly. Everyone was silent for a minute, taking in what he had just said.

"But, she can't. She accepted the Power and that means never turning to evil."

"Doe she even have a choice in the matter? If she swore never to turn evil, then that couldn't have been the real Ara. I mean, it may have been her, physically, but it wasn't mentally, you know?" Tamara asked slowly. _Boy she is good._ Matt thought to himself.

"Look, I'm still hungry, can I go eat lunch yet or not?" Matt asked annoyed.

"Yeah, we'll come with," Sean commented. Matt sighed and walked to the cafeteria with the others close behind. At lunch, the group discussed possible motives for why Ara was suddenly evil and Matt stayed quiet through most of them, but eliminating the ones that seemed extremely insulting. Once Sean even suggested she truely liked the dark side and Matt reached across the table to punch him in the arm for even suggesting it, as did Jared while Tamara just kicked him under the table. "Ok, sorry. I was just sayin," Sean appoligized as he rubbed his shoulders. In the last period Matt sat next to Ara as usual and the two worked on school work, but kept muttering a conversation on the side.

"The others cornered me today at lunch," Matt whispered, trying to get her to at least smile.

"Oh?" Ara whispered back. His eyes shifted to her face and found she wasn't smiling as he'd hoped.

"Wanted to know what we talked about; apparently Jared saw us talking," Matt commented a little more serious.

"Sorry," she commented emotionless.

"Don't be. I told them what you told me to say. That you wanted me to join you in destroying the Power,"

"And?" she contined in a monotone.

"Well, there was a heated debate being whispered at the table and Sean actually thought you might like the dark side,"

"And?"

"And Jared and I punched him for even suggesting it while Tamara kicked him under the table," Matt smiled.

"Thanks," Ara commented. Matt faced her and saw her face was still sad, or confused, or mad. He couldn't quite tell.

"Ara, what's wrong?" he asked gently.

"Everything. I nearly killed my best friends. I don't want to do that again," Ara said despeartely.

"Look, I understand, I really do, Ara. But please, you need to be happy,"

"What's there to be happy about?" Ara asked.

"That you're even alive," Matt tried.

"I might not be if this keeps up, alright?" Matt decided to shut up to this since Ara was upset and he could be making things worse by talking about them. The rest of the period was quiet between them and when the bell rang, Matt watched and followed as Ara dashed to her locker and outside. Matt opened the connection on his morpher to Sidira as he opened his locker.

"Sidira, you there?" Matt asked in his locker.

"I am," Sidira answered.

"Call the others, I want us all to meet in the command center," Matt explained.

"Very well," Sidira confirmed. Matt dropped off the things he needed to and ran off to find Ara. She was sitting alone on the front steps of the school, looking oddly at peace, almost happy.

"Hi," Matt greeted carefully.

"Hi," Ara responded.

"You seem better," he commented.

"Not really. Rest of the world doesn't need to know I'm going to betray them, though," Ara answered sadly.

"Come on," Matt stated shortly as he began walking.

"What?" Ara asked.

"Come on," he repeated. He didn't stop when Ara questioned him, so he heard the noise of Ara's running pace soon after. Matt lead the way to an empty area where he suddenly took hold of Ara's arm. Ara looked at him, wondering what in the world he was doing. He hooked his arm through hers and teleported them both to the command center. Matt saw her look at him first, then the others who were already there.

"What's she doing here?!" Sean demanded harshly.

"I brought her," Matt answered, shortly.

"Yeah, we see that. Why'd you bring her here?" Sean continued.

"Because she needs to explain why she's done all this," Matt answered.

"No," Ara stated.

"Yes. Look, this is ridiculus. You guys think she's betrayed you, but she hasn't," Matt continued.

"Matt, stop it," Ara commanded.

"Ara, you're not a bad person. You're not evil," he continued.

"Don't do this," Ara tried.

"Ara, it can't hurt, can it?" Kari asked timidly. She was bruised all over with many cuts, but it didn't look like there was any major damage. Ara morphed without a word, took out her pistol and shot the consol next to Kari.

"It can and it will," Ara answered, coldly. Sean morphed immediately and stared Ara down as he pointed his own pistol at her.

"Shoot me once, shame on you, shoot me twice, shame on me," he commented.

"Ara, come on, demorph already," Matt tried.

"Matt, drop it. You've got your options and I've got mine," Ara stated. She shot several more times at the consols and monitors, dodging Sean as he attempted to shoot her back. Finally, Ara teleported away. Sean was furious and threw his pistol down, nearly shooting Matt's head. Luckily, Matt was quick enough and dodged it in time.

"I can't believe you actually did that!" Tamara raged at both of them. "You should have known better than to bring her here and you should know better than to just drop your weapon like that!" Tamara went over by Kari and went back to healing her, just as she'd done all evening last night. Matt sat on the floor and hung his head.

"I can't believe she actually did that... This'll take a while to fix and she knows it!" Matt complained.

"So that's it? She really is evil now?" Kari asked.

"No!" Matt shouted. "She's good, I know it. She told me so herself! Think! She didn't want to hurt anyone innocent, but she had to, but she still didn't hurt as many as she could have. She didn't kill any of us, even though she could,"

"She nearly did, which is good enough for me!" Tamara argued as she continued.

"She didn't try to. She thought Kari would duck in time,"

"How do you know this?" Jared asked.

"I saw it in her mind when I talked to her earlier. She's really upset about this and us treating her like the enemy isn't helping," Matt continued.

"Hello! She just nearly killed us again! Of course she's the enemy!" Sean raged.

"She's not the enemy. She's just working for him," Matt argued.

"Like there's a big difference," Sean continued.

"There is. Ara is still good!" Matt stated.

"Think what you want, it'll be your head that gets blown off your shoulders," Sean raged. Sean teleported home and Matt knew the battle was a lost cause. Ara would be considered unwelcome among the crew now, but he wasn't going to give up. Jared teleported home and Tamara and Kari teleported to Kari's house to finish healing her. Matt looked at Sidira with a helpless expression.

"Is this it? Do we really have to fight her?" Matt asked.

"You don't _have_ to fight anyone, Matt. It is completely up to you," Sidira advised. Matt groaned frustratedly.

"I want to fight evil and help protect the Earth, but I don't want to fight Ara. Why are the others so eager to fight her. She was their friend first, wasn't she?" he asked.

"I do not know of their friendship ties earlier, but when I chose them, Ara, Kari and Tamara were friends. Jared and Sean were also friends, but they were not all as close as they seem now, aside from Ara," Sidira explained. Matt groaned again in fustration.

"Thanks Sidira, I guess I'll just talk to you later," Matt sighed and teleported away before Sidira could even say good-bye. He ended up at the lake, and sat down to think. He remembered when he first told Ara he was moving to Lexington, she was excited to show him the lake and he could now see why. It was a very good place to stop and think. Matt was very deep in thought for at least an hour when he heard a click from behind. He turned to see a red pistol in his face.

"Come with me," the familiar voice ordered. Matt got up and looked straight at Ara.

"Are you serious?" He asked.

"Master Rexus is waiting for you," she said almost reluctantly. They stood facing eachother, and even though she was wearing a helmet, he could read her eratic thoughts.

_I'm so sorry Matt.. I hope you'll forgive me someday... Don't let Rexus take you like he did me... Be stronger than I was.._ Matt nodded once to answer all her pleas and picked up his things. Together they walked through a teleportation warp and both were in a darkness that seemed to stretch forever. Ara put her pistol away and demorphed but didn't say anything.

"Welcome my Silver Ranger!" a voice boomed.

"I don't belong to anyone, Dude!" Matt growled back.

"Of course not, of course not," the voice jeered. "And welcome back, my dear Ara. Your parents say hello as well, or they would if they could,"

"I've done everything you asked, now just let them go!" Ara demanded. Matt noticed she talked as if he wasn't even there.

"Actually you haven't. You didn't do the one key thing I asked you to do," the voice chided. The voice sounded like he was talking to a child who hadn't done their homework.

"And that was..?!" Ara growled back.

"To destroy the Power. If your little friends can still morph then it's quite obvious you haven't destroyed the Power," the voice reminded. Ara growled but didn't say anything. "Now then, young Mathew, our silver ranger. Surely you know why you're here?"

"You expect me to help destroy the Power." Matt answered.

"Yes, very good. She's at least told you your mission. I was disappointed when you took her to Sidira, you see I can't see or hear in her home, but quite glad when she reappeared into my view, morphed and upset. That's normally a good sign for us evil ones. Anyway, that's all for later. I assume you have accepted my request?"

"No, actually I didn't," Matt answered, now looking at Ara.

"You didn't? Did she not tell you the stakes?" the voice asked a little puzzled.

"My life?" Matt asked. Ara cringed at his suggestion.

"No my dear boy, your beloved family's," the voice said lightly. Matt looked at Ara again, who looked down ashamed.

"What do you mean? There's just me and my mom and she's at work," Matt informed logically.

"Well, you see, I did a little picking and it's more than just your mother's. You also seem to consider your friend here, your sister and so her life is also at stake," the voice answered.

"Ara?" Matt asked, puzzled.

"That's low Rexus. You know as well as I do, if his mother wasn't at stake I wouldn't have even brought him!" Ara shouted angrilly.

"Oh I know. There's a reason why I'm the villian here. Now what do you say Silver Ranger?"

"I say keep tryin!" Matt growled back.

"As you wish," the voice answered. The light on Ara brightened Matt could suddenly see at least ten swords suspended in the air, with the blades pointed at Ara.

"No way, You wouldn't." Matt said quietly in disbelief.

"Yes way, I would." a voice just as soft answered happily. Matt watched as Ara's expression went from anger, to worry, to determination. She grit her teeth, as if she knew what was coming. "Care to change your decision?" the voice asked.

"No," Matt answered shakily.

"So be it," the voice answered. The swords dove through the air and pierced Ara through. A scream let out and Ara fell to her knees, protecting her head and neck as best she could. Matt closed his eyes for the spear and when he opened them again he saw Ara standing up with the same determined look.

"I told you, make it a million waves and I won't give in," Ara whispered.

"Yes, but make it a friend or family member and you'll crumble to dust," the voice laughed loudly.

"No! Stop this!" Matt called.

"So you'll join me?" the voice asked.

"I... I just.. just want you.. to stop," Matt stammered.

"Well, I'm afraid this won't stop," another waves was sent at Ara and another scream was heard, "until you join us,"

"I.. fine, I'll do it," Matt muttered.

"Matt, no!" Ara called.

"You'll do what?!" The booming voice demanded.

"I'll join you!" Matt stated.

"That's what I like to hear! Music to my ears!" the voice answered joyously. One more wave of swords went at Ara and another scream was heard.

"Hey!" Matt protested. He'd already agreed to join Rexus only to ensure Ara wouldn't get pierced with the swords again.

"Sorry, habit," the voice said in a not so sorry tone. Matt ran over to Ara to help her up, but she appeared angry when he reached towards her.

"God damn... I swore I wouldn't scream when he did that, not when you were here at least," she muttered. She still took his hand, but ended up needing his full support to help her stand.

"Are you ok?" he asked carefully.

"Well, you're not hurt, so yea, I'm fine," Ara answered.

"This is what happened last night, isn't it?" he asked. Ara nodded but smiled.

"At least this time I can stand up," Ara tried. Matt nodded this time and slowly began to let go, but immediately Ara was losing balance and almost collasped. "Well, ok, almost stand up," Ara still gave a weak smile as he continued to prop her up.

"So what do we do now?" Matt asked.

"We need to get home. Now I don't think he has your mom, but if he does, don't panic. My folks are still techniquelly alive, they're just in a coma like state so they won't remember what's going on. If your mom is home though, you gotta keep acting normal. None of that, 'Oh mom I'm so glad you're alive' stuff, right?" Ara informed. Matt nodded slightly. He'd gone a little pale at the thought of his mother with Master Rexus. "Good. One more thing: You can't talk to the others," Matt stared at her. _Is she serious?_

"Ara, you can't be serious," Matt finally stated.

"Oh I am. I'm doing my damnedest not to let the others get more involved than they need to be. If they hear we're working for Rexus because he's got our parents, they'll worry about their own family, about us, about our families, about keeping a normal low profile, about the entire ranger world being at stake. We can't load them more than they need to be loaded. I never said anything that would give away what was wrong, except that I'd gone evil. That was all you guys needed to know, that I wasn't going to help you guys anymore. Now if you wanna do some psychotic mess with the minds, sabatage, double agent thing, then by all means. Go back and talk to the others like everything's all cool. I'm not doing it, though. They deserve better than some dumb mind game that'll just drive them all up the wall. I won't hurt them more than I have. I don't know about you, but a simple betrayal is all I'm willing to do," Ara spoke quickly and Matt could tell she needed to get this off her chest for some time. He could feel her pent up anger rolling off now that she had a friend who was in this with her. He also sensed she'd been using this argument on herself to keep her from doing, what she felt, was the wrong thing.

"Ara, I can't just not talk to them, at all. We need to tell them something. They do deserve to know."

"You can, you weren't ordered not to. _I_ can't Matt, _I'm_ not allowed. If _you_ want to tell them the truth, _you_ need to do it now, before he can forbid you," Ara explained logically. She stared Matt in the eye and he understood. She wanted to tell the them, but there was just too much to risk, and now he had a similar risk. But she had a found a loophole Rexus's words and she wanted him to take advantage of it. Matt didn't hesitate. He helped Ara limp to the warp and made sure she was in bed before he teleported to the command center.

"Sidira, teleport everyone now. I don't care if they're on the toilet, they need to be here, now!" Matt ordered. Sidira did as asked and teleported everyone and sure enough, Sean was unzipping up his pants when he arrived.

"Sean!" Tamara yelled annoyed. She covered Kari's eyes and closed her own as Sean zipped his zipper before anyone else saw.

"Aw come on, man! No warning?! I really gotta pee!" Sean raged. Matt ignored him and looked at the group.

"We've got big trouble," Matt explained.

"What's wrong?" Kari asked when Tamara removed her hands from her eyes.

"Ara's in trouble and now I'm in the same trouble," Matt answered calmly.

"Aw not this again! Look, she's evil, we're good. There's nothing that says we have to help evil people with a school test," Sean said, exasperated.

"Sean, this isn't something stupid like some test! Ara's parents were taken by Master Rexus! That's why she's been acting so evil, he's holding them as leverage!" Matt shouted. He never intended to shout it, but Sean was always a button pusher.

"Matt.." Kari said carefully. "You said you were in the same touble. Does that mean your mom and dad were taken too?"

"I don't live with my dad, it's just me and my mom. She gets home late, so I don't know if she's taken or not, but he's making it sound like he did. He wanted me to join him and Ara, and if he has my mom..." he trailed off, trying to sound more worried than he was. Oddly enough, it wasn't his mother's image he kept seeing hurt, but he wasn't ready to tell the others now.

"Why does he want just you two?" Sean blurted out.

"Because he thinks we're the strongest of the group," Matt answered calmly again.

"So what, you're going to betray us too?" Tamara asked.

"I'm trying not to. Look, Ara wanted to tell you herself, but Master Rexus ordered her not to. Oh! That's the other thing, I found out why she was limping, and man, does she have a good excuse," Matt commented.

"And?" Tamara asked assumingly.

"Master Rexus slices her with ten to twenty swords as a punishment or threat. I saw it myself! They all just flew in the air, all at her and they like, cut her and went through her and stuff. It was really sick, actually, but amazing, cause she would get back up every time, or at least try to get up. Last night, she couldn't even move when he was done, and he had to teleport her back to her room. Oh, and that's the other sick thing. He knew where she lived, and I'm betting he knows where I live,"

"So if he knows where you guys live, he probably knows where we live, which means he can just come in our sleep and murder us if he wanted!" Sean started ranting. Kari's face went from grave to scared and Matt could tell Sean's sudden rampage was the reason.

"Sean!" Tamara yelled sharply. Sean looked at her and noticed she was hugging Kari for comfort. "It's ok, Kari, he's not gonna come in the middle of the night or something.." Tamara soothed.

"But.. but he did to Ara! He took her parents, what about my mom and dad? I can't let them get hurt!" Kari moaned.

"Kari," Matt tried in a gentle voice, "Ara's parents are asleep right now. They're not at her home, but they're in a sleeping state, so they won't remember anything when Ara rescues them," He held her hand while Tamara kept one arm around her shoulder.

"But.. but Ara's a bad person now.."

"No, she's not. She's doing some inside sabatoge," Matt smiled. "You know, double agent kind of stuff,"

"But Sean keeps saying she's evil and we can't trust her, ever." Kari complained. Matt, Tamara, and Jared all glared at Sean, but he didn't look the slightest bit sorry.

"It's not true. I just came back from talking to her. She's in her house right now. She can't really talk to you though, so you'll have to find a way to silently communicate. She's all about finding loop-holes to help us,"

"Really?" Kari asked hopeful. Matt nodded and Kari smiled. "Then I need to go talk to her, right now!"

"I'll come with," Jared informed. Kari nodded and the two teleported to Ara's home.

"Why'd you tell her Ara's evil and can never be trusted?" Matt demanded of Sean.

"It's the truth, damn it! I tried to be nice, but all she did was try to blast my wrist and Tamara's chest. I'm not gonna take a dead girl to the dance," Sean tried. Matt could understand Sean's attitude, but Sean had to understand as well as he did, if he was a true ranger fan.

"Sean, I think that's the sweetest thing that's come out of your mouth, and that's very sad," Tamara commented.

"Well now you know the truth and you know Ara's still good," Matt stated.

"Pff, I'll believe it when I talk to her myself, which I don't plan on doing for a while!" Sean stated annoyed.

"Suit yourself. It'll be five against one, who do you think'll win?" Matt challenged. Sean snorted in disbelief and teleported to his own home.

"God, he's so annoying! How can you people stand him?"

"Well, get him alone and when his guard is down and he can actually be quite tolerable. Plus his hair is so hot! I really like a guy with blond highlights, but it still has to look good," Tamara commented with a smile.

"Really... Is this what you and Kari agreed on?" Matt asked, casually.

"Oh yes, but Ara said she likes natural best. Kari says highlights are nice, but they don't just have to be blonde. I'm a blonde girl, through and through," Tamara answered mindlessly.

"What else do you girls like in guy?" Matt continued.

"Uhm, we each like different things. Like, I like average height, good-looking, and good kissers. Ara prefers nice romantic guys. It doesn't really matter what they look like. Kari's like Ara and she prefers romantic guys who are nice, but not push-overs, you know. They're willing to defend the weak and all that bull." Tamara rambled.

"Hm, well, thanks. I guess I'll see you tomorrow,"

"Yeah, g'night," Tamara teleported her house and Matt followed to his house to plan.


	20. Redeemed

Disclaimer: Man, I haven't posted in a while! Well, here's another chapter. As said before, I don't own Power Rangers or anything affiliated. I'm just a dorky fan who likes to write stuff who had a huge mindblock for over a year :-P

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Ara sat in bed, propped up and studying for a test she had coming up in math. The house was quiet without the activity of her parents. She smiled at herself, glad to finally have a friend in on her secret. Just as she put the book down, she saw two figures teleport in. She stopped smiling and put her poker face on, not smiling, nor frowning.

"Ara!" Kari yelled and immediately went to hug her. Ara didn't move, she didn't even breathe. She hurt enough that she couldn't walk, and Kari coming to hug her wasn't making the pain go away yet. "Oh my gosh, I can't believe Master Rexus was this cruel! Matt told us everything! Don't worry, I'm here to heal you!" Kari stated in a more upbeat tone than Ara would have imagined. Kari went to work and began healing every bruise or cut she could find. Jared, she noticed, hung back as usual and leaned against a wall, watching Kari work, and just waiting for his turn to talk to her. Ara didn't say anything, she just watched Kari heal her, and slowly the pain was lifted. After an hour, Kari sat on a chair and stared at Ara. "I'm sorry, Ara. I can't heal everything right now. There's just so much," Kari complained. Ara nodded to show it was alright, but didn't say anything else. Jared then stood up and took a pen and a pad of paper off her desk.

"If you can't speak to us, write it down," he explained. Ara took the pen and paper and drew a smiley face, then began writing endlessly.

_I'm sorry I can't talk. When Master Rexus orders something, you have no choice but to obey, but there's many loopholes that I'm trying to figure out. He told me to destroy the Power, but didn't give me a time frame, so I'm delaying as long as possible. Kari, I'm so sorry I hurt you, I never intended to really hurt you guys. I had to give you trouble, though, to play the part. I'm so sorry, can you ever forgive me?_

Kari read the note and nodded and looked on the verge of tears. "Of course I can. I'm just so sorry you have to go through this! It's horrible!" Ara nodded silently, still keeping her poker face.

_Thank you for healing me._ Ara wrote. _I'm sure you're really tired now._

"I am a little, but anything for you Ara!" Kari answered happily. Ara drew another smiley face, but yawned. "I guess you're really tired too. Who can blame you? I guess I'll just teleport home, but if you need me, just call or whatever," Kari tried. Ara nodded once and flashed a quick smile. Kari smiled and teleported, leaving Ara and Jared alone. Jared looked at her, then opened his arms. A dark sphere opened around them and Jared smiled as he put his arms back down.

"Now you can talk. Master Rexus can't hear you," Jared tried. Ara smiled gently.

"Thank you," she choked out horsely.

"I wish there was a way I could help you," Jared continued. Ara nodded sadly. "What can I do to make you smile again?" he asked gently. Ara shrugged silently.

"Talk to me, please," Jared asked in an irrisistable tone.

"About what?" Ara asked quietly.

"Anything. How's school? Are your grades keeping up?"

"Mmhmm," Ara nodded.

"Are you going to join any sports?" he continued.

"No," she mumbled.

"Please Ara, each day you act more like how I used to be," he smiled, in an attempt to make her smile.

"Used to?" Ara asked, finally sounding at least a little more animated.

"Yes, you never noticed?" he continued.

"I knew you were quiet, and didn't do much to draw attention to yourself," Ara commented.

"Yes, I was. I was sure life was pointless and I was merely living it for the benefit of others," he explianed. Ara nodded gently. She understood that more than he could imagine. "Please smile. I know you can,"

"Not right now," Ara answered sullenly.

"When?"  
"When all this is over. When rangers aren't really needed anymore,"

"You don't really mean that,"

"Oh?"

"No. You enjoy being a ranger, I can feel it. You love being a ranger and you love helping others with your abilities. You will smile again and be happy some day," Jared tried.

"But not today," Ara answered.

"What do you want most in the world?" Jared suddenly asked. "Besides there not being any ranger danger in the world?" Ara thought for a minute. What was the one thing in the world she wanted most? That was a very difficult question to answer.

"I think, I'd want to fly. You know, not in an airplane, or with wings. Just be me, and fly high enough to touch the clouds,"

"Is that all?" Jared asked as if he could do that any day.

"What else is there?" Ara asked curiously.

"Don't you want to travel to another planet? To meet one of those Power Rangers from tv? To do the impossile?" Jared asked.

"Flying is not impossible?" Ara challenged a little.

"Not for us," he smiled.

"Yes it is. It's impossible to fly, even by controlling the air currents. Gravity, remember?" Ara explained. Jared smiled.

"Do you remember all those weeks ago when we first got our powers? You tried to fly off the slide in the park," Jared commented.

"You saw that?" Ara grimanced. She thought no one saw her, and it was embarressing to know Jared, of all people, had.

"I saw a lot of things," Jared smiled. Ara sighed, but didn't say anything. "You had such confidence then. Sure that we could conquer anything, even the laws of physics,"

"Yeah, and I also thought being a ranger was just a simulation that could be a game," Ara commented.

"And I thought Power Rangers was the lamest thing in the world," he chuckled.

"Well, I guess one of us grew up and one of us grew down," Ara commented without thinking.

"Ouch," Jared responded.

"Sorry," Ara commented.

"No, you may be correct," Jared agreed, "However, I know you well enough, to know you don't truely believe that. I can feel it, deep inside. Hope is burning,"

"Since when are you so verbose?" Ara tried. Jared laughed and nodded his head.

"I don't know. I suppose since when I first met you,"

"But Jared, if memory serves, we've known eachother for seven years now, since the beginning of martial arts," Ara giggled.

"Exactly," he answered with a smile. Ara looked at him and just giggled again. She was staring in his eyes so deeply she didn't think anything mattered, even the outside noises.

"Red ranger!" A voice boomed from below. Ara jumped startled and suddenly scared to death.

"Ara, who is that?" Jared asked seriously.

"S..Sac..." Ara stammered.

"Sacul?" Jared finished. Ara just nodded silently.

"Red Ranger! Where are you? I know your Silver Ranger friend brought you here!"

"Go!" Ara hissed. She pulled the covers over her head expecting for Jared to leave. She heard Jared sigh and teleport away, just as a boom crashed where her door was.

"There you are! Get up, what kind of ranger are you, hiding in bed?"  
"A beaten up one! What kind of Monster are you making house calls?"

"One who obeys orders," Sacul answered.

"Leave me alone!" Ara grumbled.

"Not a chance. You're coming with me,"

"Why?" Ara whined.

"Because you work for Master Rexus now, and he is in charge of your schedual,"

"So he doesn't let me rest when I need it?"

"He does if he feels merciful," Sacul laughed evilly. Ara groaned and threw the covers back. She stood up, slowly, trying to make sure she still had balance. "Hurry up, you are a ranger after all, you should be used to this,"

"Actually I'm used to my team being with me,"

"Actually the only team you need to worry about is your silver ranger friend and me,"

"You?" Ara asked with disbelief.

"Yes me. Between you, me and the Silver Ranger, we'll rule the world in no time!" he laughed. Ara scowled, she didn't like the way he talked. She wasn't in this to rule the world; she was in it for the opposite reason. "Come on already! Let's go!" he complained. He took hold of Ara's arm roughly and teleported them both to a plaza in the city. "Now morph and start attacking,"

"Hmph, only Rexus gives the order for me," Ara argued.

"Not anymore. There's ranks in this organization, and you and the silver ranger are just above the nators,"

"Hmph, like I said. Only Rexus gives the orders," Ara stated.

"Suit yourself. It'll be your head that rolls, but if you interfere, it'll be more than your head," with that Sacul jumped from the building they were on and began attacking the people. Ara stood where she was, torn between helping the people or helping her family. Even with Kari's healing session, she was still extremely sore. She knew she should help the people, but she couldn't get herself to move. Her family was still with Rexus and the one she called brother was now working for the enemy too. Not thinking, she morphed where she was, and watched the battle. The others had come and began fighting Sacul. With Ara and Matt on the dark side, Tamara seemed to be in charge. She had Jared and Kari go after the nators while she and Sean went after the monster. She had to admit, the group did well without her and Matt. Still, with only 4 rangers, they were losing. Ara couldn't watch much longer. She took out her pistol and, again without thinking, shot twelve nators down. Kari looked around, stunned to see her enemies were taken down for her. Jared looked where the shot came from but Ara ran so he couldn't see her. She knew Sacul would pick up soon if she didn't keep on the move. She jumped to another building and shot more nators until they were all gone, and the group only had the monster to deal with.

"You're lucky rangers!" the monster stated "I'm gonna get you yet!" the monster charged the group, but they dodged him and attacked back. Sacul seemed to notice the random attacks too and surprised Ara by attacking where she was heading next to attack the monster. He shot his beam and Ara came flying from her spot and crashing onto the ground.

"Ara!" Tamara called as she lead the group to try and help her. She shot her pistol at them and struggled to get up. The others stopped soon enough that her shot didn't hit them, but they stared at her for a minute, forgetting the monster entirely.

"Hey!" she called to Sacul. "I'm trying to help!"

"I told you, interfere and it's more than just your head that rolls," Sacul answered.

"Well excuse me for having a bad shot! I can barely stand after I run, you think I'm gonna have great balance and aim too?" Ara shot back.

"Yeah right, I think you were trying to protect your friends," Sacul stated. "Well think again. I work for Rexus now, remember?" Ara answered.

"I do, I just wonder if you remember as well,"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means I question where your loyalties lie, ranger!"

"You would," she mumbled.

"Hey! What's going on here?!" Matt suddenly called. Everyone turned to look at Matt who was already morphed.

"Matt! You're here, now you can help us!" Kari exclaimed happily.

"Not here for that. I'm here to take Ara home," Matt answered harshly.

"But.. but it's Sacul. We need your help to beat him!" Tamara stated.

"Not my problem. Let's go Ara," Matt grabbed her by the arm and began pulling, making Ara lose balance and trip.

"Not so fast! She's to help me destroy the rangers!" Sacul grabbed Ara's other arm, keeping her from falling on her face, but Matt wouldn't let go, thus making Ara feel like a toy being argued over.

"Under whose orders?" Matt demanded.

"Mine!" Sacul growled.

"Then I don't care. She's coming with me!" Matt insisted.

"No, she's staying!" Sacul continued.

"Coming!"

"Staying!"

"Ranger in pain!" Ara suddenly yelled. Both Matt and Sacul let go, causing Ara to fall to the ground. Right away Kari tried running over to help heal her, but Ara gave her a warning glance, making Kari step back.

"Come on Ara, you're not healed enough for this," Matt stated. He grabbed Ara roughly by the arm and teleported them both home.


	21. Thief

Disclaimer: Yeah, it's a short little thing. I don't own Power Rangers, please don't sue me. Enjoy --Kai*

* * *

Ara sat on her bed next to Matt, tired and not sure what to say.

"Are you really that stupid?" Matt finally asked.

"What do you mean?" she asked innocently.

"You tried to help them, even though you're injured this bad?" He asked in a tense tensly.

"Sacul dragged me along, and they're two rangers down and losing. They didn't know I was the one to help them,"

"It's not them I'm so concerned about. Sacul was ready to rip your head off!"

"He's always gonna think I'm betraying him and Rexus, might as well let him be right,"

"Ara!" Matt yelled.

"Ok ok.." Ara surrendured with a sigh. "You're right, I shouldn't have let him do that, but Matt, let's be honest, what was I supposed to do? They're still my team, my friends. I can't just let them get blown up,"

"I know," he finally said in a gentle tone,"but you risk your life enough. I don't think Jared would appreciate it if he had to take you to the dance in a body cast," Matt smiled and Ara gave a small giggle.

"Yeah, I guess. Still, that seems to be the road I'm on at this rate,"

"Ara, you need to be more careful. The next time that this happens, something worse might of happen to you" Matt Said.

"Not like it matters that much, I can take care of myself you know,"

"Oh really? Seemed to be doing a great job before,"

"Oh shush, I'm doing the best I can, ok?"

"Look, plain and simple, don't help them again. Leave it to me," his eyes pleaded.

"I can't promise I won't help them," Ara started. Matt started to object, but Ara put a hand up, "but I won't _try_ to help, ok?" Matt nodded silently.

The next day was school once again, and Ara hid out in the library when she wasn't in class. She limped a little and afterschool she simply teleported home when no one was watching. She did her homework, and logged onto the computer. She warred with herself as to whether or not she ought to go onto her messenger. She knew there'd be plenty of messages, she'd hid out from everyone, even her non-ranger friends. Somehow she wanted to keep talking to them, but she knew that would be dangerous if she were to keep up the charade. Sacul didn't give her enough time to deliberate. He teleported in and gave her a menacing glare.

"Can I help you?" she asked in a sassy tone.

"You could, but I doubt Master Rexus would be pleased," he answered.

"What's the word?" she asked cryptically.

"South Street- roof, five minutes. See you there," he answered just before he teleported away. Ara heaved a sigh when he dissappeared.

"Damn it!" she exclaimed to herself. Ara stood and made sure everything was put away before she morphed and teleported.

"Ah, there's our red ranger!" Rexus sneered. Ara held back a growl and tried her best to maintain her cool.

"What do you want?" she demanded.

"You see down there, my dear?"

"You mean the jewelry store next to a bakery and a luggage store? Yes,"

"Good, I want you to take every stone in there," Rexus instructed.

"You're turning me into a thief now? A common criminal?"

"Not common, but yes a thief. My thief. And unless you do as I say all that you hold dear will soon be gone," He threatened, maintaining his smile.

"You suck," Ara finished. She looked over the edge to plan her routes into the building and out of. She'd never stolen anything except a candy bar from her friend's backpack and even then she'd given it back.

"What are you waiting for, my dear?"

"Planning," Ara growled.

"For?" Sacul mocked.

"Well I don't plan on getting caught, do you?" Ara asked annoyed.  
"It'd be amusing, I'm sure," Rexus played. Again, Ara growled. She finished planning her route and was about to jump off when Matt's voice came from behind.

"Wait!" He called. Ara turned to see Matt making his way past the small group of nators and Master Rexus and Sacul. "Ara don't do it,"

"Sorry, man, I have to," Ara answered.

"No you don't! Ara, I found your parents!" Matt exclaimed. Ara stared at him for a minute.

"Don't joke with me, Matt,"

"I'm not! Ara, they're alive! They're free!"

"Lies. He doesn't know where they are. Only I know," Rexus raged.

"Ara, I'm not lying. Go home and look!" Ara stared at both of them, her head shaking wildly from one to the other. She wanted to believe Matt so badly, but she couldn't afford the risk of endangering her parents more than she already had.

"Sorry," Ara whispered as she turned and jumped off the building onto the roof of the store. She snuck in quickly and stole what she could, bringing it back quickly without tripping the alarms. She returned to the roof to see Matt, laying sprawled on his stomach and demorphed.

"Excellent my red ranger! You've done very well!" Rexus beamed in approval.

"Matt!!" Ara called. She bent low to make sure he was breathing. "What'd you do to him?!" Ara raged.

"I simply silenced the little nuicince for a while. He will be fine in the morning," Rexus dismissed.

"Monster!" Ara screamed.

"No, that is a monster," he said pointing to a random monster a block away. "I am an overlord and over there is a general and there are the nators. Surely you would know all this, though," Rexus answered amused.

Ara glared at him, hand drawing closer and closer to her pistol as she deliberated whether or not to just shoot them all. She resolved not to, but instead to take her friend home. She could only sit for so long as she worried over her near-brother's condition. Eventually Ara stood up and went to her computer. She signed into AIM and messenged Kari.

_I need help._ she typed. It took a moment, but Kari responded as Ara knew she would

_What's wrong?_

_It's Matt. Rexus hurt him real bad. Can you heal him?_

_I can try.. When do you want me over?_

_Don't come. I'll teleprt him to the park. Be ready and waiting to take him with you._

_I'm bringing Tamara._

_Good. Thank you._ Ara signed off and looked at Matt. She knew it was risky, but she was done with Rexus. She took Matt too the park and set him against a tree. Before she was able to be caught, she teleported away, hoping to the heavens Tamara and Kari got to Matt first.


	22. Silver Pressure

Hey, so it's been a while. My flashdrive with my stories has sadly died so i'm creating from scratch so bare with me.. This is a wonderful little filler thanks to my brother, Matt. You're awesome dude! -Kai*

Disclaimer: I said it before, I'll say it again: I don't own Power Rangers, any of them. Please don't sue me!

* * *

Matt had gotten home, and he immediately set up a bowl of water and used his special powers to make sure Ara got in well. When he saw that she was fast asleep in her own bed, he ended the scrying. He changed into his pj's and got into bed thinking. His poster of Tommy Oliver as the Green Ranger hung up on the wall. He didn't know what to do in this situation.

He remembered when they didn't have the power at all, and all they knew was that the Power Rangers were a television show, and he didn't know that the Power actually existed. He also gained some insight to Trent, the White Dino Thunder Ranger, who didn't want to betray his father. Ara was basically like a sister to him, and he would go through Hell's fire with her.

He also thought to himself that if anything like this would happen, he would have no problem fighting her in a Role Play, but he gained a lot of insight. He came to the fact that he would go along and fight with her (even though he gained a lot of skill in Martial arts, she would kick his behind anyway).

He began thinking about the upcoming dance, he *knew* who he wanted to ask to the dance, but unless he performed a summon ritual to gain courage, that wasn't going to happen at all.

The rest of the night went by quickly and the next day came by at school. He went to his locker and looked inside to get his books. "What's Ara's next plan?" Sean demanded as Matt closed his locker. "She planning on destroying us all with a laser beam?" He asked. Matt pointedly ignored him. "Hey, I asked you a question!" Sean said, following him. He turned around to look at Sean. "Here's an idea, why don't you transform into me caring." He hissed as he turned around and went to his class.

The rest of the school day went by quickly. Matt made sure to avoid Sean whenever it was possible (though it was a very long lunch time with some questions being fired upon him). He went to the park, where the others were training. Suddenly, in a flash of red light, Ara was in the park, surrounded by Nators. "Looks like you wont be helping us again?" He said. Without waiting for him to answer, they got ready to Morph.

"Transformer!"

"Darkness!"

"Healer!"

They were morphed into the Power Rangers, and the four rangers began fighting the Nators. Once the Rangers finished off the nators, Ara drew her pistol and with a sigh, she began to attack the four rangers, and completely trounced them, yet again. She felt very guilt as she saw them on the ground, obviously in pain. Matt, sitting on the ground, made no effort to go help them, instead, staring at the spot Ara was standing at, before she teleported. He than glanced at the other rangers, who were slowly getting up, and started feeling that extreme feeling of guilt. He had to do what he had to do, and they just didn't understand that, especially Sean.

They finally got up, and Sean glared at Matt again. "So, this is what you plan on doing, keep watching us as she continues to beat us with our own powers." He demanded. "I already explained to you what the deal was, Sean. I don't give a crap if you don't like it, it's the way it is." Matt said, as he teleported away.

Matt eventually Made it home, and he laid back on his bed, thinking. This was one of the worst days, and it was rare that an attack like this happened, and he felt like he was failing them, the Power. Matt stared at his poster of Tommy. "Why isn't our Ranger fight as easy as your fights were." He thought to himself. He than tried thinking of ways to get out of Rexus's control, and eventually went to bed.


End file.
